His big break came in the early 1990s when Yusuff Ali timed the opening of his first LuLu supermarket in Abu Dhabi just when the Gulf War was breaking out.
Another big trial came in Iraq, where over the weekend the man known as Chemical Ali was convicted on charges stemming from a brutal military campaign against the Kurds.
The former star of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air delivers his finest ever performance on the big screen, coming as close as anyone could to capturing the charisma that made Ali The Greatest.