By Cain Madden

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — With the death of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali Friday, local residents are remembering his time in Natchez filming “Freedom Road,” a made-for-TV movie that debuted in October 1979.

Fresh off defeating Leon Spinks in 1978 in New Orleans, Ali announced his retirement from boxing and made a rare appearance in a movie that was filmed in Natchez that year. “Freedom Road” starred Ali and Kris Kristofferson and was about an ex-slave, Gideon Jackson, who gets elected to the U.S. Senate in 1870s Virginia.

Former Natchez mayor Tony Byrne said he remembered there being a stir that the Ku Klux Klan would try to kill him, so the sheriff went and met him at the Louisiana border.

“But there wasn’t any way to protect Ali,” Byrne said. “He would stop a school bus, get on and do magic tricks for the kids. He would go to the pool hall and play pool.

“He was basically an overgrown kid and loved to have a lot of fun.”

Based on his in-ring persona, Byrne said he didn’t expect he’d care for Ali.

“I didn’t think I’d like him, but I did,” he said. “I thought the way he personified himself out there, being a smart aleck, cutting up and chopping people down, but he wasn’t anything like that. He was a pretty down to earth guy.

“I’m usually a pretty good judge of character, but I obviously misjudged him.”

Byrne said Ali told him he acted like that in the ring to make money. Byrne said Ali picked up his act from Gorgeous George, a wrestler who would sometimes appear in Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Ky.

“He had long flowing blonde hair, and he would walk around the ring, spread perfume and people would boo him,” he said. “It didn’t take Ali long to realize that George was making $1,000 a night and the guy he was fighting was making $100.

“‘You know, I haven’t done so bad. I’ve made $21 million so far,’” Byrne said Ali told him.

“And I bet you spent $22 million,” Byrne said he told Ali.

Byrne said Ali laughed and said, “Yes, sir.”

“I liked to see that side of him,” the former mayor said. “He was a really good guy.”

Byrne said Ali could put on a show whenever he wanted to.

“He wanted people to dislike him so much that they would pay to see him get beat,” he said. “As he got older, people started understanding him, at least, as much as you could understand Muhammad Ali.”

Earlier this year, James Davis narrated a Natchez History Minute video for the Natchez Tricentennial on Ali that aired on his birthday, January 17. Ali was born in 1942.

Davis, an employee of the Natchez National Historical Park, was an extra on the film.

“He was real friendly,” Davis said. “I remember during breaks, he would not go back to his trailer like the other actors. He’d stay out and mingle around with the extras.”

Davis said he got interested in boxing as a sport because of Ali.

“He was pretty good — it was always interesting to see what he would do, the way he would dance around the ring and do things like that,” he said. “I watched all of his fights, but I don’t watch boxing anymore. I stopped watching boxing when he stopped.”

Davis, who was 15 at the time, said he didn’t recall exactly where all the filming took place, but he said he was usually hauling logs in the background. Byrne said he recalls they shot scenes at Melrose and Belmont.

“I was real shy at the time,” Davis said. “The costume they gave me, I used to keep the hat I wore pulled over my face. I remember Ali and another guy in the movie used to tell me to keep my head up.”

After telling him to keep his head up, Davis said Ali bought him breakfast another day.

“He did it because I was acting shy and didn’t want to be around anybody — I was mostly in the movie for the money,” he said. “We just had a few words, and then he went and mingled with some other extras.”

“That’s how he was, he would just mingle with everyone until it was time to shoot his next scene. He was a real nice guy, real down to earth,” Davis said.

Davis and Byrne both said Ali was real good with children, and former Natchez resident Cliff McCarstle III, who now lives in Tulsa, Okla., recalls posing for a picture with the world-famous athlete in September 1978.

McCarstle, whose family still lives in Natchez, said Ali was staying at Dr. Carl Passman’s house on U.S. 61 near Mammy’s Cupboard. McCarstle and his mother, Rosilyn Adams, who lived across the street in Elgin, crossed the road one day when they saw Ali playing in the backyard with his daughter.

“Oh man, it was awesome,” McCarstle said. “The guy put his arms around me, grabbed my hair in a wrestling pose, and when he was doing it, he was growling.

“You can only imagine what a 12-year-old kid was thinking with the world heavyweight champion doing that — it was scary, fun and exciting all rolled into one.”

The picture has been a highlight of his life, and since he has it framed, it’s been a conversation piece, said McCarstle, who is the son of Cliff McCarstle Jr. Cliff McCarstle III said he had followed Ali’s career and was excited to meet him.

“It was an awesome feeling, meeting somebody that is a world famous sports hero,” he said. “I was just in awe of it. But he was definitely outgoing, approachable and he made you feel good when you were talking to the guy.”

Byrne said it was all downhill for Ali after he came out of retirement to fight Larry Holmes in 1980. An estimated 125 punches were landed on Ali in the ninth and tenth rounds alone before he was knocked out in the 11th round.

“I was very sorry to hear about his death — we lost a great one,” Byrne said. “He was a great promoter and a great fighter.”

Muhammad Ali died Friday at age 74, a spokesman for his family said. He was hospitalized in the Phoenix area with respiratory problems earlier this week, and his children had flown in from around the country. Family spokesman Bob Gunnell said Ali, who had Parkinson’s disease, died of septic shock. While it’s not clear exactly what transpired with Ali, people with late-stage Parkinson’s often have difficulty swallowing. Food and liquid landing in the lungs can lead to pneumonia or a chest infection that could cause sepsis, a bloodstream infection.

“It’s a sad day for life, man. I loved Muhammad Ali, he was my friend. Ali will never die,” Don King, who promoted some of Ali’s biggest fights, told The Associated Press early Saturday. “Like Martin Luther King his spirit will live on, he stood for the world.”

A funeral will be held in his hometown of Louisville. The city held a memorial service Saturday.