Neiman, a showman known for his handlebar mustache, sometimes painted live on television during major events such as the Olympics and the Super Bowl, helping make him one of the world's most commercially successful contemporary artists.
Among his subjects were boxing's Muhammad Ali, former New York Jets football star Joe Namath and baseball greats Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.
Neiman had just published his memoirs, "All Told," which came out days before his 91st birthday on June 8.
"He had a happy birthday. He was so happy to see his memoir published," said Gail Parenteau, his publicist.
She said he died at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan of natural causes. He had been hospitalized there in 2010 with vascular problems that required life-saving surgery to remove his right leg above the knee, she said.
By coincidence, his latest work - a multicolored golf ball 4 feet in diameter and completed in April - went on display in Chicago on Wednesday, said his archivist, Tara Zabor.
Neiman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 8, 1921, and was of Turkish and Swedish descent "as near as I can figure out," according to his official website.
A child of the Great Depression whose father abandoned his family at a young age, Neiman enlisted in the U.S. military in 1942, later taking part in the invasion of Normandy and fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, according to a biography provided by Parenteau.
On returning home, he attended Chicago's School of the Art Institute on the G.I. Bill.
He became a contributing artist for Playboy magazine in the 1950s and established a friendship with its founder, Hugh Hefner, one of many famous friends including Frank Sinatra and Ali.
He painted about a dozen portraits of Ali, Zabor said, befriending the boxer when he was still known as Cassius Clay.
'TRUE ORIGINAL'
Neiman said he ignored advice that working with Playboy would ruin his career as a legitimate artist.
"But Playboy was liberating," he wrote in his memoir. "I was drawn to it and went for it full throttle. ... I lived my life as I wanted to live it and screw what happens. I always stayed in tune with my own ambitions and attitudes and I'm still my intractable old self, for better or worse."
Patty Otis Abel, a contributor and editor on his memoir, said Hefner appreciated that Neiman came from a fine arts background.
"Hugh wanted to be able to combine a fine art and more of a commercial sensibility, and he felt that's what LeRoy brought," Abel said.
Neiman was named official artist of the Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid and Sarajevo in 1980 and 1984 and the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, cementing his image as a painter of athletic themes. He also painted U.S. presidents, jazz musicians, Las Vegas gamblers and the animals of Africa in addition to authoring 15 books.
Abel agreed he was a showman.
"There was always a genuine aspect to it," she said. "It was never phony. This was a genuine guy and a true original."
(Reporting By Daniel Trotta; editing by Christopher Wilson)
Kinuha ng anim na buwang buntis na si Katrina Halili ang aktres na si Marian Rivera bilang ninang ng kaniyang magiging anak. Ilang buwan na ang nakakalipas nang masangkot sa isyung awayan sina Marian at Katrina dahil umano ito sa hindi pagkakasundo ng dalawa sa set ng kanilang teleserye. Limang taon na ang nakakaraan nang magkaroon din ng isyu sa pagitan nina Marian Rivera at Katrina Halili at ito ay nangyari sa kuana-unahang teleserye na pinagsamahan nila. Kinumpirma mismo ni Katrina na kinuha niya bilang ninang si Marian sa binyag ng bata.
Bago pa natapos ang taping ng huling teleserye ni Katrina Halili ay nakipagbati na raw siya kay Marian Rivera. Nagyakapan at nag-iyakan din umano ang dalawa. May komunikasyon na rin ngayon sina Marian at Katrina dahil nagagawa na nilang magtext at magtawagan sa isa’t-isa. Maging sa baby shower ni Katrina ay iimbitahin niya rin umano ang kaniyang kaibigang aktres. Kinalimutan na rin nina Marian Rivera at Katrina Halili ang hidwaang nangyari sa kanilang dalawa dahil mas mahalaga raw ngayon ay ang kanilang pagkakaibgan.
Masaya ang aktres na si Kim Chiu sa naging resulta ng kaniyang bagong pelikula kasama si Vilma Santos. Bukod sa pagganap ng karakter na doppelganger o dual role ay masaya ang 21-taong-gulang na si Kim dahil nakasama at nakatrabaho niya ang Batangas Governor na si Vilma. Aniya, isang magandang karanasan ang makasama ang isa sa pinakamahusay na aktres sa industriya. Marami rin umanong natutunan si Kim Chiu kay Vilma Santos bilang isang aktres at bilang isang tao. Maging ang direktor nina Kim at Vilma ay nagsilbi rin umanong malaking tulong para sa kanila. Aminado si Kim Chiu na tila lumalim na ang kaniyang pag-arte at maging sa kaniyang trabaho ay nag-iba na rin ang kaniyang pananaw.
Nalalapit na ang birthday concert ni Sarah Geronimo at marami sa kaniyang mga tagahanga ang umaasa na makakasama nito ang aktor na si Gerald Anderson. Umaasa naman ang binatang aktor na si Gerald na makakapunta siya sa concert ni Sarah na magaganap sa July 7. Hindi pa matiyak ng Budoy star ang araw na ito dahil marami umano siyang showbiz commitments sa mga panahong iyon. Bagamat wala pang proyekto sina Gerald Anderson at Sarah Geronimo na magkasama ay masaya na ang binata sa kanilang kasalukuyang relasyon ng dalaga. Sa dalawang pelikula na nagawa ng dalawa ay hindi mapagkakaila na nakabuo na ang mga ito ng espesyal na pagkakaibigan.
Naniniwala si Gerald na hindi na kailangan pang itago ng dalagang si Sarah ang kaniyang nararamdaman. Maaaring nasanay umano ang mga tao na dinadaan na lang sa tawa ni Sarah Geronimo ang mga katanungan patungkol sa kaniyang buhay pag-ibig. Ayon kay Gerald maganda ang loob at labas ng pagkatao ni Sarah at alam niyang hindi magtatagal ay magiging matured pa ito. Wala naman daw umanong problema kung hindi pa handa ang singer na pumasok sa isang relasyon dahil mas gusto niya umanong pumasok sa isang commitment na kung kinakailangan pa itong itago. Sa ngayon ay sapat na kay Gerald Anderson ang inspirasyon na ibinibigay sa kaniya ni Sarah Geronimo dahil pareho naman silang hindi nagmamadali pagdating sa pag-ibig.
