O.J. Simpson originally rose to fame as a football standout.
After winning the 1968 Heisman Trophy at the University of Southern California, he was selected by the Buffalo Bills as the No. 1 overall pick in the 1969 draft.
Simpson retired from the NFL in 1979 after playing 11 seasons, pivoting his career to take on Hollywood. He made appearances in film and TV series, including The Naked Gun film trilogy.
Despite his football legacy, his name became rooted in infamy when his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were found stabbed to death outside of her Los Angeles home in 1994.
O.J. (Orenthal James) was arrested and subsequently charged with the murders of which he was acquitted. He was later found liable for the wrongful death of and battery against Goldman in a civil suit filed by Goldman’s family and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims’ families.
Years before his family became famous via reality TV, the late Robert Kardashian Sr. was one of the attorneys who represented O.J. during the trial, which served as the inspiration for the 2016 limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
O.J.’s legal woes continued when he was found guilty of kidnapping and armed robbery in 2007 in Las Vegas. He served nine years in a Nevada prison before being granted an early release in July 2017.
After a battle with cancer, O.J.’s family shared in April 2024 that he died at the age of 76.
Scroll down through the gallery below to relive O.J.’s life in photos: