O.J.Simpson, the renowned former football star turned actor, who was cleared of charges in a highly publicized trial involving the killing of his ex-wife and her friend, has passed away from cancer, according to his family. O.J. Simpson was 76 years old and died at his Las Vegas home on Wednesday.
In a statement posted on his official social media account, his family announced, “On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, lost his battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren. During this period, the family requests privacy and understanding.”
Despite being acquitted in the criminal trial for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Simpson was later found liable in a civil lawsuit filed by the victims’ families, three years following the conclusion of the criminal trial.
O.J.Simpson born in San Francisco, gained renown after winning the Heisman Trophy during his tenure at USC. He went on to break records as a professional football player for both the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills.
O.J. Simpson ventured into acting while still in college, making appearances in television shows like “Medical Center,” before transitioning to the NFL. He continued to demonstrate his acting abilities in films such as “The Klansman,” “The Cassandra Crossing,” and “The Towering Inferno,” as well as in the miniseries “Roots,” all while pursuing his football career.
Following his retirement from football, Simpson starred in three “Naked Gun” films and the comedy “Back to the Beach.” He was in the midst of developing a two-hour pilot for the adventure series “Frogmen” when his arrest abruptly halted the project for NBC.
On June 12, 1994, the bodies of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were discovered outside her Brentwood condominium. O.J. Simpson, who had previously pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge involving Nicole Brown Simpson during their marriage, became a suspect in the murders, and charges were brought against him.
Rather than surrendering to authorities, he triggered a media frenzy by attempting to escape in his white Ford Bronco, resulting in a televised slow-speed chase on June 17 that captivated an audience of approximately 95 million viewers.
The subsequent trial became a highly publicized spectacle, and O.J. Simpson was eventually acquitted of the two murders. However, in 1997, Goldman’s family pursued a civil lawsuit against Simpson, leading to him being found liable for wrongful death and battery against Goldman, as well as battery against Nicole Brown Simpson. He was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.
He went on to spend almost nine years incarcerated for offenses related to a Las Vegas sports memorabilia scheme, which included charges of robbery and kidnapping, before finally being released in 2017.
Several Hollywood films and documentary series have delved into the well-known trial, such as Fox’s “The O.J.Simpson Story” (1995), CBS’s “American Tragedy” (2000), Investigation Discovery’s “OJ: Trial of the Century” (2014), the Academy Award-winning “O.J.Simpson: Made in America” (2016), and FX’s “The People v. O.J.Simpson: American Crime Story” (2016) starring Cuba Gooding Jr.
Sacha Baron Cohen, adopting a character disguise for his 2018 Showtime series “Who Is America?”, notably attempted to extract a confession from Simpson in a memorable yet uncomfortable interview. In 2021, Simpson was released from parole ahead of schedule due to his exemplary conduct.
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