LeRoy Neiman: Portrait of the Artist

Author/Journalist Mark "Scoop" Malinowski, known to TBT readers for his BioFile series, recently published his latest book, LeRoy Neiman: Portrait of the Artist.

Neiman is the celebrated pop culture artist who rose to prominence in the '80s via his iconic painting of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed's post-Clubber Lang sparring session in Rocky III, as well as countless works featured on the covers of romance and fantasy novels.

The book is a collection of memories and anecdotes from a wide range of people in sports, media, the art world, and more, including Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Arum. Malinowski was close friends with Neiman for over two decades.

Here are a couple of excerpts from LeRoy Neiman: Portrait of the Artist:

Bert Randolph Sugar (Boxing Historian): "I met LeRoy Neiman in Chicago at the Playboy Mansion. And for those people who don't know that joke page right after the centerfold - and I know that you don't turn it over - those cartoon girls (Femlines), that's (by) LeRoy. That's how he started. Hef got him to do the little girls that dot the page. Then he's done some magnificent work, and I got to know him there. And I actually paid attention to him. And there was still girls in bathrobes that I could've-should've been paying attention to [smiles]… because I used to go to Chicago a lot.

"But LeRoy is one of the real people, not only from St. Paul (MN), which nobody knows about him. He used to train at Mike Gibbons gym in St. Paul. He used to box as a kid. This is a person who loves boxing and he's been involved in it almost his entire adult life. And he’s one helluva friend and one great, great artist. He sort of - this only goes to people who are 350 years or older - he's the William Hogarth that depicted life of London back in the 1700s. He is that Hogarth of American life today.

"And also what was fun was, I used to, not only did I go to his studio but we'd have dinner downstairs at Cafe Des Artists. His agent at the time was Salvador Dali's agent. And he had a mustache. And we'd sit there and watch Salvador Dali carry in his candelabra and put it on the table for dinner. LeRoy and I just had a good relationship - and still do. He's one of the real people. And I always give him a cigar to say hello.

"One of the fun things about LeRoy is that, way back when at Madison Square Garden, Johnny Condon always said, ‘Don't even stare, don't even look at Frankie Carbo, Frank Costello and the members of the mob who were there with their friend girls of the evening.’ Well, LeRoy's sitting there one night just drawing Frank Costello. And Johnny Condon, the publicist at Madison Square Garden, ran over at least three times telling him not to. And he keeps drawing him. Finally, a couple of the goombas from Costello came over to ask what he's doing. 'I'm drawing Frank Costello.' They gestured for him to come over. Looked at the sketch. Wanted it. And LeRoy didn't want to give it to him. He said, 'I'll sell it to you.' And he sold it to him. Not only did he look at him when he wasn't supposed to. Not only did he draw him. He sold him the sketch. LeRoy is good. He's fearless. He does his studies well. He's a great artist. But he's a better friend than he is an artist. And that's saying something."

Larry Holmes (Former Heavyweight Champion): "He liked boxing… maybe more than anything else. Because he was always there at every major fight. At every party, he was there. Matter of fact, I got a picture from him (of me) dancing with my wife. I don't know why it took so long to write about him. Like me, out of sight, out of mind. A lot of people are like that. Forgotten. I could say that about me, but I'm not. If I don't see someone, I'll ask about them. I don't forget LeRoy. I can't. I didn't like him because of his artwork. I liked him because of his personality. The picture he did of me and my wife is still on my wall. And it will be on our wall till we are not here anymore. A lot of people come to our house and ask me, Did you know LeRoy? Of course, I knew LeRoy. He was a great man. He always had my respect. I didn't know he passed until I asked. Nobody told me anything. I don't get the news, I don't read the papers much."

Question: Do you remember the first time you met LeRoy?

Larry Holmes: "I wish I did. When I met him, I remember I know we hit it off. I respected him. He respected me. I was just a little guy trying to become champion. He treated me like I was the champion. Yeah, LeRoy was good, a good guy."

Available for $9.99 in softcover and $5.99 on Kindle at Amazon.com.