Leon Gast

Leon Gast is an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary, When We Were Kings depicts the iconic heavyweight boxing match: The Rumble in the Jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. This film would go on to win the 1996 Academy Award for Documentary Feature and the Independent Spirit Award. Gast co-directed the 1977 documentary, The Grateful Dead Movie with guitarist Jerry Garcia. The film captured the band's October 1974, five-night performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Gast also co-directed the 1983 film Hell's Angels Forever, which focused on the notorious motorcycle club Hells Angels. The Angels are believed to have learned that Gast put material in the documentary in which they didn't prefer. To this end, Gast claims that the Angels tracked him down and beat him up. Gast has also produced works on B.B. King and Celia Cruz.

A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Gast studied dramatic arts at Columbia University, and in that same period worked on the television series High Adventure with writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas. Gast is also known for his still photography which has appeared in such magazines as Vogue, Esquire, and Harper's Bazaar.

Leon Gast is best known for his documentary When We Were Kings, for which he won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature. The film details the boxing match known as “The Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Ali defeated Foreman in the fight, for which the two split a $10 million purse.

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