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Muhammad Ali
Lucille Ball - 1911--1989
In 1951 Lucille Ball teamed up with her Cuban-born, bandleader husband, Desi Arnaz, to play the zany middle-class couple, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo in television's prototypical situation comedy I Love Lucy. With near perfect timing and a genius for sightgags, redhaired Ball careened through 179 episodes of the original sitcom as a ditzy housewife; the 1953 episode on which she gave birth to "Little Ricky,' filmed to coincide with delivery of her real-life son, was said to attract more viewers than the concurrent inauguration of President Dwight D Eisenhower. Desilu Productions, which she and Arnaz founded in 1950, was a successful independent producer of television shows before Gulf-Western acquired it.
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, got his first boxing lessons from an Irish-American policeman who thought he was teaching a 13-year-old boy how to protect his bicycle from neighborhood bullies. But by age 16 he had won the Louisville Golden Gloves tournament and was on his way to a renowned career, including an Olympic gold medal. He won his first World Boxing Association championship in 1964 in a career that spanned nearly two decades.
In retirement since 1981, Ali has spent his time since then in many humanitarian endeavors, including traveling to Iraq just prior to the Persian Gulf War to talk with Saddam Hussein to negotiate the release of 15 hostages in 1990. He has done most of his legendary philanthropic works anonymously, donating millions of dollars to individuals and organizations without consideration for religion or race, including Jewish retirement homes, Catholic churches and numerous colleges.
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Created : December 10, 1998
Last updated : July 15, 2001
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