O.J. Simpson is dead. The former football player and actor died at the age of 76 as a result of cancer. His family announced this on the X platform on Thursday.
Simpson gained worldwide attention in 1994 when he was suspected of having murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her acquaintance Ronald Goldman. On June 20, 1994, Simpson’s spectacular escape from a pack of police cars eclipsed even the World Cup and the NBA championship finals, was shown live on countless TV stations and achieved huge ratings. The chase across the LA highways ultimately ended at Simpson’s property in the upscale suburb of Brentwood. Simpson was acquitted of the allegations in the trial, which was accompanied by a gigantic media storm.
However, the image of the former sports star Simpson was badly damaged despite his acquittal. NBC (where he commented on sporting events for an annual salary of one million dollars) and the car rental company Hertz (he played a central role in their television advertising) dropped the former football star.
In a later civil case, he was held responsible for the death of his ex-wife and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in compensation.
Career as a football player
He started his career as a football player. During his time at San Francisco City College, Simpson, who grew up in the former working-class Potrero Hill district of the West Coast metropolis, first attracted attention as a football ace. After his school days, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles accepted him into their ranks, where he became the best college player of 1968 as a running back. The jump into professional football came a year later, Simpson went to the Buffalo Bills, where he received the “Player of the Year” award in 1973.
Numerous advertising contracts and appearances in film and television followed, including in “Flaming Inferno”, “The Naked Cannon”, “The Naked Cannon 2 1/2”, “The Naked Cannon 33 1/3” and the series “Roots”. After his first marriage to Marguerite Whitby, he met waitress Nicole Brown in 1977, whom he married in 1985.
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