Veronica Porché Ali
| Veronica Porché Ali | |
|---|---|
 Veronica Porché Ali and Muhammad Ali at a White House dinner in 1977 | |
| Born |
December 16, 1955 Lake Charles Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress Psychologist |
| Spouse(s) |
Carl Anderson (1992–February 23, 2004; his death) Muhammad Ali (June 19, 1977–July 1986; divorced); 2 children |
Veronica Porché-Ali (born Veronica Porché;[1] December 16, 1955) is an American actress and the former wife of boxer Muhammad Ali.
Porché was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on December 16, 1955, to Ethel and Horace Porché and is of Louisiana Creole descent. She attended Holy Rosary Catholic boarding school in Lafayette, Louisiana before moving with her parents to Echo Park, Los Angeles, California. She graduated from Belmont High School in Los Angeles in 1973 and attended the University of Southern California.
She was the third wife of American boxer Muhammad Ali, and is the mother of his two daughters, actress and undefeated professional boxer Laila Ali[2] and author Hana Yasmeen Ali. They were married at the Presidential Compound in N'Sele according to the Islamic tradition.
Ali and Porché began a relationship in 1974 while in Kinshasa, Zaire when Porché was 18 years old. Porché was one of the four poster girls who had promoted the Rumble in the Jungle fight in Zaire versus George Foreman. Porché and Ali were then married in Los Angeles in the summer of 1977. They divorced in December 1986.
She studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse to overcome shyness and had limited experience as an actress. She played a tour guide, Ranger Emily, in the 1986 film Terror on Alcatraz and made a cameo appearance in "Freedom Road" starring Ali and Kris Kristofferson. She co-hosted a segment of "Good Morning, New York" and appeared as herself in a made-for-TV documentary, Intimate Portrait: Laila Ali (2001) (TV). In the film Ali, she was played by Michael Michele.[3] Both Porché and Ali stated at the time that their relationship and other aspects of the film were inaccurately portrayed.
Personal life
In 1992, six years after her divorce from Ali, Porché married jazz artist and actor Carl Anderson, who played Judas Iscariot in the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as the 1973 film of the same name. The couple traveled together in the mid 1990s when Carl reprised his role and toured the United States. Anderson died of leukemia in 2004. In May 2007, she appeared with her two daughters, Laila and Hana, on Dancing with the Stars.[4]
References
- ↑ USA Today article http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/10/muhammad-alis-ex-wife-reveals-details-about-their-secret-wedding
- ↑ "Laila Ali expecting a baby". Sandrarose.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
- ↑ Verónica Porche Ali at the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ "Dancing with the Stars: Season 4, Episode 19 : Round 10 Results (I)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
