OJ Simpson, NFL star known for ‘trial of the century’, dies aged 76

OJ Simpson, the American football superstar and Hollywood actor whose acquittal in a 1995 murder trial sparked a rancorous debate about race and justice in the US, has died of cancer aged 76.

Orenthal James Simpson’s grace on the football field, good looks and charisma led to a successful career as a pitchman for Hertz rental cars and as an actor in films such as The Towering Inferno and The Naked Gun. But it was his 1995 trial over the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, that would leave an indelible mark on American society.