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Orenthal James “OJ” Simpson has died at 76 years old, his family confirmed in a statement.
“On April 10th, our father, Orenthal James Simpson, succumbed to his battle with cancer,” his family wrote. “He was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.”
Simpson was a former American football player – often regarded as one of the greatest running backs of all time – and actor who became a cultural icon. But he was perhaps most well known for his role in the highly publicised and controversial trial of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
In what many referred to as “the trial of the century”, Simpson was accused, charged and then acquitted of murdering Brown and Goldman in 1994. His acquittal, by a mostly Black jury, was a seminal moment in US cultural history.
Although he was acquitted on the criminal charges, a civil court later in 1996 found him guilty of their murders and ordered him to pay over $30 million to the victim’s families. He only paid some of the debt before his death.
A father of five children (one of whom died as a toddler), Simpson had spent his later years leaning into his notoriety — including his 2016 book “If I Did It”, the rights of which ended up going to Goldman’s family.
His family asked for “privacy and grace” in their time of mourning
Simpson was born on 9 July 1947 in San Francisco, California to Eunice and Jimmy Lee Simpson.
From a young age, Simpson displayed immense athletic talent. Through high school and early college, he played football as both a running back and defensive back, earning the Junior College All-American team title.
Simpson attended the University of Southern California, playing as a running back for the Trojans football team and led the team to victory against UCLA in the 1967 Victory Bell game by just one point.
Emerging into the professional football sphere as the number one draft pick in 1969, Simpson played for the Buffalo Bills for eight years before moving to the San Francisco 49ers until 1979.
Throughout his impressive football career, Simpson earned him the titles of Most Valuable Player (MVP), Offensive Player of the Year and more.
After leaving the professional football field, Simpson pivoted to acting, notably playing Detective Nordberg in the 1988 cop spoof movie Naked Gun and Harry Jernigan in the 1974 disaster film Towering Inferno.
Simpson had five children throughout his life with two women.
In 1967 he married Marguerite Whitley and together they had three children, Arnelle Simpson, Jason Simpson and Aaren Simpson. Aaren tragically died at just 23 months old from drowning.
While still married to his first wife, Simpson began dating Nicole Brown whom he met at a nightclub in Beverly Hills. After his divorce from Whitley, Simpson and Brown married in February 1985. Together they had two children, Sydney Simpson and Justin Simpson.
Brown and Simpson were married for seven years, during which accusations of spousal abuse emerged. Simpson pleaded no contest. The two were divorced in 1993, citing irreconcilable differences but attempted to reconcile.
Simpson’s reputation never recovered after the murder trial. He did serve nine years in prison: for armed robbery over sports memorabilia, following a 2007 incident in a Las Vegas hotel room. In later years, as documentaries and film adaptations of his life and the murder trial were released, he spent his time tweeting videos of himself talking about football, golf and politics.
“My health is good,” he said in an 11 Feb post, as he sat poolside in Las Vegas, talking about football. “Obviously I’m dealing with some issues, but hey I think I’m just about over it and I’ll be back on that golf course hopefully in a couple of weeks.
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