American boxer Jake LaMotta, whose life story inspired Martin Scorsese's 1980 film Raging Bull, died on September 20, aged 96.

Robert De Niro trained with LaMotta in preparation for playing him in the film, and later won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance.

As a boxer, LaMotta was famed for his ability to take countless punches without being knocked out. "I think God gifted me with a very hard head,” he once said. After retiring from boxing in the 1950s, he became a stand-up comedian.