Sports artist LeRoy Neiman dead at 91

NEW YORK – LeRoy Neiman, a famed artist whose sports portraits included drawings of such stars as Muhammad Ali and Babe Ruth, died on Wednesday at age 91 at a New York hospital.

Neiman served as the official painter for five Olympics and conveyed the drama of the sports world as well as such notable figures as Frank Sinatra.

He captured such diverse events as the Super Bowl, France’s Cannes Film Festival, Grand Prix auto racing in Monaco and England’s Ascot and Grand National Steeplechase races.

But among his most iconic artworks were those of Ali over 15 year’s of the legendary fighter’s career. His paintings and sketchworks are on display in a gallery that bears his name at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

Neiman was survived by his wife, Janet Byrne Neiman.