1. - Ali Achmed Taram, Al-Risalah, Libya, 1976. “There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the Messenger... “ The Champ was extremely keen to play Bilal in producer Moustapha Akkad’s Islam epic. Or epics: one in Arabic, the other in English. Akkad would not hear of hiring Ali. “It would smack of commercialism.” Enter the Arabic Taram...

2. - Johnny Sekka, The Message, Libya, 1976. ... and the Senegal-born Sekka as producer Moustapha Akkad made both films without depicting the prophet, true to the strict teachings of Islam.

3. - Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait, 1978. The Champ's ring schedule pushed Warren Beatty into a different sport.  “I couldn't see myself as a boxer but I had been a football player as a lad so I changed it.”

4. -  Christopher Reeve, Superman, 1978.