TWIT is very sad to report that Paul Newman has died. The Hollywood icon died Friday after a courageous bout with cancer. The Hollywood icon was 83 years old.
Paul Newman appeared in 65 movies over his 50 year career. He made his Hollywood debut in the 1954 "The Silver Chalice." A year and a half later,he inherited from James Dean the role of the boxer Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me." Dean had been killed in a car crash before the screenplay was finished.
Newman was best known as the self-destructive convict in "Cool Hand Luke" in 1967; as Butch Cassidy "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" in 1969; as pool shark Fast Eddie in "The Hustler" in 1961, a role he recreated 25 years later in "The Color Of Money" in 1986. That performance brought Newman his sole Academy Award for best actor, after he had been nominated for that award six times. In all, he received eight Oscar nominations for best actor and one for best supporting actor, in “Road to Perdition.” “Rachel, Rachel,” which he directed, was nominated for best picture.
But the movies and the occasional stage role were never enough for him. He became a successful racecar driver, winning several Sports Car Club of America national driving titles. He even competed at Daytona in 1995 as a 70th birthday present to himself. In 1982, as a lark, he decided to sell a salad dressing he had created and bottled for friends at Christmas. Thus was born the Newman’s Own brand, an enterprise he started with his friend A. E. Hotchner. More than 25 years later the brand has expanded to include, among other foods, lemonade, popcorn, spaghetti sauce, pretzels, organic Fig Newmans and wine. (His daughter Nell Newman runs the company’s organic arm.) All its profits, of more than $200 million, have been donated to charity, the company says.
In addition to his acting, Paul Newman was also known for his marriage to Joanne Woodward. They were married for over fifty years. In an industry where celebrity marriages lasty only a few yerars, theirs was known for its endurance and committment. But they admitted that it was often turbulent. She loved opera and ballet; he liked playing practical jokes and racing cars. But as Paul told Playboy magazine, in an often-repeated quotation about marital fidelity, “I have steak at home; why go out for hamburger?”
In an interview this summer, Newman was asked about what legacy he would want to leave behind when he died. He said his charity work was his greatest legacy. The money from the sale of Newman's Own was used to create a string of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, named for the outlaw gang in “Butch Cassidy.” The camps provide free summer recreation for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Newman was actively involved in the project, even choosing cowboy hats as gear so that children who had lost their hair because of chemotherapy could disguise their baldness.
The one thing I admired most about Paul Newman was the fact that throughout his career we never heard one bit of scandal about him nor any of his family. They were just good people.
You will surely be missed, Paul Newman. There will never be another pair of blue eyes like yours.
1 comment:
He could have parked his shoes under my bed (one sexy man even in his later years) ~ but I remember well what he said about Joanne.....why have hamburger, when he could have steak at home.
Two very fine actors....he and her, he will be very missed (so will Joanne when the time comes for us to say goodbye)
I for one will miss you Blue Eyes
~Barb
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