Muhammad Ali’s life as athlete, activist explored in 4-part Ken Burns series.
New four-part documentary details the athlete and activist’s life
Ken Burns has met many famous people in his life, but his encounter with Muhammad Ali was almost a religious experience for the documentarian.
While on a fundraising trip to Los Angeles in the 1990s, Burns ducked into a mostly empty diner to order a cup of hot tea to go. He turned around to notice Ali in a booth.
“We locked eyes right away, and I had a (mostly) wordless conversation with him. I’ve never had anything like that in my life. It was incredibly special and very moving,” Burns told The Chronicle by phone from New Hampshire, where he lives and works. “I basically said, ‘You’re Muhammad Ali,’ and he said, ‘I am.’ ”
Burns recalled that while this encounter was well after Ali’s Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, “his twinkle was there, the love was there.”
“We never break the gaze. It was awkward, so I said, ‘Well, I won’t bother you,’ and he said, ‘You’re not bothering me.’ I said, ‘I love you,’ and he said, ‘I love you too.’ I took my tea, walked out right by him, and we looked at each other the whole time. It was a recognition of humanity and love. It was a really great thing.”
Ali had been a hero of his since he was a boy, when the boxer was known as Cassius Clay, so in some sense Burns’ new documentary series, “Muhammad Ali,” has been decades in the making.
The four-part, eight-hour series premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19, on longtime partner PBS (KQED in San Francisco) and will show for four consecutive nights. It will also be available on www.pbs.org and the PBS app.
The documentary series is codirected by Burns and his frequent collaborators, daughter Sarah Burns and son-in-law David McMahon. Jonathan Eig, who has worked with the filmmakers on past documentaries, was also involved; his biography, “Ali: A Life,” was published in 2017. All consider the finished work one of their most satisfying professional journeys — this from a team that has immersed itself in topics such as the
Civil War, baseball, the Vietnam War, country music and, most recently, Ernest Hemingway.
“Ali is rightly celebrated for his athleticism in the ring,” said Sarah Burns in a statement, “but he was equally heroic in his willingness to stand up for what he believed was right.”
The series proceeds in chronological order. The first episode, “Round One: The Greatest (1942-64),” traces Clay’s upbringing in Louisville, Ky., his gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and his historically fast rise to heavyweight champ at age 22, thanks partially to an unusual management arrangement with a group of white Louisville businessmen.
Clay almost didn’t make it to Rome. The Olympic trials were at the Cow Palace in Daly City, but the teenager was afraid to fly (it took him years to get over that phobia). Clay boarded the plane to San Francisco International Airport but with an insurance policy: He packed a parachute he had bought at an army surplus store.
After gaining his Olympic berth, he took the train home after his first of many legendary San Francisco appearances.
“Round Two: What’s My Name? (1964-70)” details his friendships with Malcolm X and Elijah Muhammad and his embrace of Islam; assuming the Ali name; his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War, which caused his titles to be stripped and his boxing licenses to be revoked; and his triumphant reascension.
It’s around this time that a young Burns became a lifelong fan.
“I adored him,” Burns said. “When he first burst on the scene, he was confident, he was cocky, he was arrogant, he was reciting poetry. This was disconcerting; it’s not how athletes were supposed to be.”
“Round Three: The Rivalry (197074)” documents his re-emergence as heavyweight champ and the fights that made him a legend, including the “Rumble in the Jungle” and “Thrilla in Manila.”
“Round Four: The Spell Remains (1974-2016)” chronicles his sad professional decline, his deteriorating health, his humanitarian work and the recognition as one of most transformational figures of the 20th century, cemented by his lighting of the torch at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
“He becomes an apostle of love,” Burns said. “By the time he’s lighting the torch, he’s like a revered figure, almost like the Buddha. We forget how divisive he was. …
“He was such a larger-than-life force. He intersects with all of the issues of the late 20th century in so many interesting ways: the role of sports in society; the role of the Black athlete, and the changing ideas and definition of Black masculinity and Black manhood. It intersects with the civil rights movement. … It’s about religion and Islam and politics and war.
“These are things we’re still grappling with, are we not?”