Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.

Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr.
Clay (right) with his wife and sons in 1960
Born
Cassius Marcellus Clay

(1912-11-11)November 11, 1912
DiedFebruary 8, 1990(1990-02-08) (aged 77)
OccupationsPainter, musician
Spouse
โ€‹
(m. 1934)โ€‹
Children

Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (November 11, 1912 โ€“ February 8, 1990) was an American painter and musician. He was the father of three-time World Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali and Rahaman Ali, and the paternal grandfather of Laila Ali. He married Odessa Lee O'Grady in 1934 and worked as a painter. He was described as "a handsome, mercurial, noisy, combative failed dreamer" and a "hard-drinking, skirt-chasing dandy of a daddy". His son Muhammad Ali described him as "the fanciest dancer in Louisville".