The iconic Paul Newman, a dearly loved actor and humanitarian passed away September 26, 2008. The 83-year old Newman died of cancer at his Westport, Connecticut home.
With his mesmerizing blue eyes, amusing personality, compelling acting talents, and dedication to affect lives positively, Newman was one of the most popular celebrities of the century. To his family, those who shared the exciting thrills of a race track with him, the kids who saw unending hope in his eyes, movies fans who didn’t have to think twice about seeing one of his movies, and the lucky film critics who had a chance to sit across from those dazzling eyes, he will be sorely missed.
What was wonderfully apparent when I interviewed him in 2002 was that he talked about retirement but his passions about his endeavors were still so strong he couldn’t let go of anything.
“I keep trying to retire from everything and discover I've retired from absolutely nothing,” he said. “I was going to get out of the racing business and I'm back in the racing business. I was going to let somebody else handle all the spaghetti sauce and I'm back in the spaghetti sauce. I just finished the first play that I've done in 35 years, which is like sticking a rifle in your mouth. So, I don't seem to be able to retire.”
From participating in school plays in Shaker Heights, Ohio, serving in the Navy in World War II, attending Kenyon College in Ohio, and on to movies and stage, Newman was emotionally invested in every decision. He parlayed his father’s tenacity in business into a long and successful career.
Newman’s first stage appearance in 1953 was in Picnic, and his first feature was the biblical film The Silver Chalice (1955) about the commissioning of a silver cup with the faces of the disciples and Jesus around its rim. Newman was so embarrassed about the movie he took out ads in the Hollywood trades apologizing for his performance. While others found his work intriguing from the beginning, the perfectionist Newman had different thoughts.
“There's not a performance that I can look at until after the late '70s with any sense of satisfaction,” he told me in 2002.
By the time he finished Cat on A Hot Tin Roof (1958) (he received an Academy Award Best Actor nomination) and The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Newman had a following. Many more awards and nominations would come over the years. His cunning as a pool shark in The Huster and roles in Hud (1964); Cool Hand Luke; Absence of Malice; The Verdict (1982); The Color of Money (1986); and Nobody’s Fool (1995) all drew acting nominations from the Academy Awards and he received a producing nomination for Rachel, Rachel. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Robert Redford won four Oscars.
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Article comments
1 - Anita E. Allman
This was one of if not the most wonderful actors in our generation. He could and did play it all. His eyes had the sexiest and/or the kindest look in the world in any movie. His devotion to his wife, racing, and his humanitarinism, make him a man to always remember with love and admiration, and I do. Even in latter movies like Message in a bottle, this was one gorgeous man.