Cassius Clay Sr. was a painter and a musician for a living. His son Muhammad Ali, who won three World Heavyweight Boxing Championships, is said to have been very proud of the way his father danced. So far as the word goes, "The Greatest" even said that his father was the most fancy dancer in Louisville.
Muhammad Ali probably got his unique footwork from his father, even though he worked hard at training.
During his life, dance, music, and other forms of art were always around Cassius Clay Sr. He was born on November 11, 1912, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He died on February 8, 1990.
He made his living by painting billboards and signs, but when he needed a break, he would play the piano. People know that Cassius Clay Sr. was named after a man named Cassius Marcellus Clay, who worked hard to end slavery.
Cassius Clay Sr. married Odessa Grady Clay in 1930. Odessa Grady Clay worked as a housekeeper to help support her family while Clay Sr. painted. Clay Sr. was interested in women and drank a lot, which earned him the nickname "hard-drinking, skirt-chasing dandy of a daddy." Clay Sr. could not stop drinking, even though his family helped him.
A heart attack killed Muhammad Ali's father.
Cassius Clay Sr. died of a heart attack in 1990, when he was about to leave a department store. He was 70 years old. Cassius Clay Sr. had a son named Rahaman Ali, who was not Muhammad Ali. Clay Sr. had died, so Muhammad Ali was no longer a professional boxer. In fact, Ali quit boxing 8 years before his father died at home with the rest of the family.
Muhammad Ali's family was from the working class. His parents taught him how important it is to live a good, honest life. When Clay Sr. was asked in 1970 about his son becoming a Muslim, he said that his religion was his talent and the only thing that had ever helped him.