Photographer Bob Gomel
"Mahammad Ali- The Great White Hope"
Date of Photograph is 1968
Limited Edition #17/250 & Limited Time Life Edition Stamp
Image Size: 14 1/4" x 17 1/2"
Paper Size: 16" x 20"
Framed size: 24" x 18"
*Original Gelatin Silver Fine Art Photography from the Great LIFE Photographers Collection
*This hand-made photograph was printed on fiber-based, museum-quality archival paper. Mint Condition
*Framed in a 1 1/2" black wood frame and museum quality matting & backing and non-glare glass.
Boxing champion Muhammad Ali (formerly known as Cassius Clay) posing in front of the Alvin Theater during production of play "The Great White Hope." Cassius Clay adopted the Muslim name Muhammad Ali in 1964. Ali holds the distinction of being the only man ever to win the world heavyweight boxing championship three times. He also won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome “The Great White Hope” won three of the most important awards on Broadway — the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and a Tony—a phenomenal achievement in the history of 20th Century theatre. The play is based on the life of black boxer Jack Johnson. When white American fighters refused to compete with Johnson, he traveled to Australia and defeated Tommy Burns in 1908, becoming the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World. Howard Sackler’s play explores the consequences of Johnson’s achievement in a climate of deep racial unrest. "The Great White Hope" opened in December 1967 in Washington, D.C. before moving to Broadway the next year. Although the work is fictional, many of the events of the play, such as Jack’s arrest, actually happened to Johnson at some point in his life. Thematically, the play also explores, with brutal honesty the nature of racism and racial conflict in American society. The play contains numerous racial slurs, and incited such strong feelings when it was first produced that some of its actors received death threats. Audiences threw their programs onto the stage floor. 1960s co-star Jane Alexander, who played James Earl Jones' lover, received obscene letters, and had to be escorted home from the theatre every night. In June of 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled against state laws banning interracial marriages. In July, 26 people died during race riots in Newark, N.J., and 43 people were killed in a five-day uproar in Detroit. In Vietnam, the number of American troops and American casualties were higher than ever. Germane to both the war abroad and the racial strife at home, heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali beat Ernie Terrell and Zora Folley, but was stripped of his title when he refused to join the Army because of his religious beliefs. These were the lively times from which Howard Sackler's "The Great White Hope" emerged, becoming an almost instant theatrical legend. "The Great White Hope" was surrounded by hoopla as it made its way to Broadway in 1968, and then to the screen in 1970. For her part, Alexander sees a strong connection between the play and the politics of the moment. "It was only really brought home to me that it was a lot about Muhammad Ali when he came to see the play in New York three times. He loved it. He came backstage and gathered the whole company together; he never looked at me once. He said, 'This play is about me, except for the white chick.' It was only then that I became aware that, I think, Howard was writing more about that."
All artwork is packaged according to UPS and USPS guidelines
Please contact gallery for International Shipping
Tracking information will be provided after the transaction is completed.
LIFE Magazine was founded by Henry Luce in 1936 and chronicled every aspect of the human condition through the end of the 20th century.
