O.J. Simpson, the former American footballer who was controversially cleared of double murder, has died aged 76. Orenthal James Simpson rose to fame as a college footballer before playing in the NFL. Photo: Internet Source

In 1995, he was acquitted of the murder of his former wife Nicole Brown and a friend in a trial that gripped America. In 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment on charges of armed robbery. He was released in 2017.

Simpson died of cancer on Wednesday "surrounded by his children and grandchildren", a family statement read.

In 1994, Simpson was arrested as a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The pair were found stabbed to death outside Brown's home in Los Angeles, and Simpson was an immediate person of interest in the case.

On the day he was due to turn himself in, Simpson fled in his white Ford Bronco with a former teammate, and led the police on a slow-speed chase through the Los Angeles area.

That chase engrossed audiences in both the United States and abroad as it was broadcast live on "rolling" 24-hour news channels that were still in their relative infancy.

In the ensuing court case, dubbed the "trial of the century" by US media, prosecutors argued Simpson had killed Brown in a jealous fury. Evidence included blood, hair and fibre tests linking Simpson to the murders.

The defence argued Simpson was framed by police who were motivated by racism. In one of the trial's most memorable moments, prosecutors asked Simpson to wear a pair of blood-stained gloves allegedly found at the scene of the murder, but Simpson struggled to put them on. It led to one of Simpson's lawyers, Johnnie Cochrane, telling the jury in his closing arguments: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit."