Legendary Actor Paul Newman Dies At 83

Academy Award-Winner Starred In "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy" And Other Classics

(CBS/AP)  He and Woodward bought an 18th century farmhouse in Westport, where they raised their three daughters, Elinor "Nell," Melissa and Clea.

Newman had two daughters, Susan and Stephanie, and a son, Scott, from a previous marriage to Jacqueline Witte.

Scott died in 1978 of an accidental overdose of alcohol and Valium. After his only son's death, Newman established the Scott Newman Foundation to finance the production of anti-drug films for children.

Newman was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the second of two boys of Arthur S. Newman, a partner in a sporting goods store, and Theresa Fetzer Newman.

He was raised in the affluent suburb of Shaker Heights, where he was encouraged him to pursue his interest in the arts by his mother and his uncle Joseph Newman, a well-known Ohio poet and journalist.

Following World War II service in the Navy, he enrolled at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he got a degree in English and was active in student productions.

He later studied at Yale University's School of Drama, then headed to New York to work in theater and television, his classmates at the famed Actor's Studio including Brando, James Dean and Karl Malden. His breakthrough was enabled by tragedy: Dean, scheduled to star as the disfigured boxer in a television adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Battler," died in a car crash in 1955. His role was taken by Newman, then a little-known performer.

(Left: Newman with Elizabeth Taylor in the film version of Tennessee Williams' "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" (1958).)

By 1958, he had won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for the shiftless Ben Quick in "The Long Hot Summer."

In December 1994, about a month before his 70th birthday, he told Newsweek magazine he had changed little with age.

"I'm not mellower, I'm not less angry, I'm not less self-critical, I'm not less tenacious," he said. "Maybe the best part is that your liver can't handle those beers at noon anymore," he said.

Newman is survived by his wife, five children, two grandsons and his older brother Arthur.





An Actor's Legacy

Paul Newman made numerous appearances on television in the 1950s before breaking into Hollywood movies. Among the shows on which he guest-starred were "Suspense," "You Are There," "The Aldrich Family," "Playhouse 90," "The U.S. Steel Hour" (starring in "Bang the Drum Slowly"), and the "Producers' Showcase" production of "Our Town" in 1955.

Films, As Actor:

"The Silver Chalice" (1954)
"Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956)
"The Rack" (1956)
"The Helen Morgan Story" (1957)
"Until They Sail" (1957)
"The Long, Hot Summer" (1958)
"The Left Handed Gun" (1958)
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958)
"Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!" (1958)
"The Young Philadelphians" (1959)
"From the Terrace" (1960)
"Exodus" (1960)
"The Hustler" (1961)
"Paris Blues" (1961)
"Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962)
"Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man" (1962)
"Hud" (1963)
"A New Kind of Love" (1963)
"The Prize" (1963)
"What a Way to Go!" (1964)
"The Outrage" (1964)
"Lady L" (1965)
"Harper" (1966)
"Torn Curtain" (1966)
"Hombre" (1967)
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967)
"The Secret War of Harry Frigg" (1968)
"Winning" (1969)
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969)
"WUSA" (1970)
"Sometimes a Great Notion" (1971)
"Pocket Money" (1972)
"The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (1972)
"The MacKintosh Man" (1973)
"The Sting" (1973)
"The Towering Inferno" (1974)
"The Drowning Pool" (1975)
"Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" (1976)
"Slap Shot" (1977)
"Quintet" (1979)
"When Time Ran Out..." (1980)
"Fort Apache, the Bronx" (1981)
"Absence of Malice" (1981)
"The Verdict" (1982)
"Come Along With Me" (1982) (TV)
"Harry & Son" (1984)
"The Color of Money" (1986)
"Fat Man and Little Boy" (1989)
"Blaze" (1989)
"Mr. & Mrs. Bridge" (1990)
"The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994)
"Nobody's Fool" (1994)
"Twilight" (1998)
"Message in a Bottle" (1999)
"Where the Money Is" (2000)
"Road to Perdition" (2002)
"Our Town" (2003) (TV)
"Empire Falls" (2005) (TV)
"Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D" (2005) (voice)
"Cars" (2006) (voice)

As Director:
"Rachel, Rachel" (1968)
"Sometimes a Great Notion" (1971)
"The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" (1972)
"The Shadow Box" (1980) (TV)
"Harry & Son" (1984)
"The Glass Menagerie" (1987)

[mrvolleyba11]

One of the few American Actors we could be proud of and actually set a good example for all. A sad day for the whole world!

[aterpk]

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward accomplished what most "Hollywood" couples don''t. They stayed married.They stood by one another through thick and thin. Even in picutures of them after decades of marriage you could see the love and admiration they had for one another. To Joanne Woodward, my heartfelt sorrow that you lost your partner, lover and best friend. How lucky you were to have had what many only dream of with such an awesome man. Mr. Newman, you will be greatly missed. You brought class, honesty and pure goodness to an industry that''s forgotten those things. The millions and millions of dollars that you could have pocketed from Newman''s Own has helped countless people who otherwise would have gone without. God''s speed big guy...you did it right.

[formrusmcsgt]

One of the last of the best, no doubt.

Adios, Butch.

[jodyrae4]

Great Actor - Family man - Giver - Handsome as ever!
Class and style is what Mr. Newman will always be to me

[oneworldusa]

Truly, truly a legend in our time. Peace be with you, Mr. Newman.

[thisandthat1]

Paul Newman was an unusually classy guy in a generally superficial and unclassy profession. Too bad there aren''t more like him.

[simplemind2]

""I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?"
Newman told Playboy magazine when asked if he was tempted to stray."

Me too - I might window shopping for a few hamburgers now and then, but I ALWAYS go home for my one and only steak.
Paul Newman is one of my heroes.

[wdh3007]

You were a great actor a one of a kind that will truly be missed. Thanks for sharing your films your ideas and your life with America.

Wayman
Jacksonville, FL

[METAUSTIN]

What a great actor! You will be missed. :-(

Rest In Peace, Paul.

[radiob2]

One of the all time great actors of all time, alongside Nicholson, Pacino, De Niro and Redford he will be sadly missed. May Providence give him his peace and honor.

[meinnv]

I grew up watching his movies and am deeply saddened by the loss of this man. My mother had been watching his movies since before I was born (she remembers the 1958 "Long Hot Summer") and we continued to do so, even to his last one--which was "voice work" and that was Cars.

What he said in the movie was quite inspiring and honest. The awards we receive in life are empty and hollow without those who we cherish in life with us (I got that from "they''re just a bunch of empty cups" when "Lightning McQueen" commented on the fact he had won 3 "Piston Cups").

It might have been an "animated" feature, but as the older and wiser of the group he made us think.

Rest in peace, Mr. Newman, we will always remember your smile and goodwill.

"What we have here...is (a) failure to communicate". And, may we get past those failures.


Godspeed, Mr. Newman, you were one of a kind.

Marie & Barbara
Las Vegas, NV

[providence_8]

Posted by zeroKnots at 11:51 PM : Sep 27, 2008

Goodnight hope to bump into you again in the future.

[providence_8]

Ps. No one made a direct statement on Pauls eternal salvation but Posted by zeroKnots at 11:16 PM : Sep 27, 2008

[providence_8]

WHY?? Providence_8?? HOW could a wonderful man like Paul Newman ave "lost his soul"?? Success?
Guess what, a rich man, obsessed with "the world" to the point of losing self will be an automaton, making presumptions EXACTLY like yours.

Hey who are we really talking about here? Paul or You? It sounds as if you have not resolved the issue of your intimate relationship with God? You can if you want to. Then you would see the Christian statements in the light of love. Jesus died for you will you call on him because of your sin debt?

[providence_8]

The word of God was not for anyone justifying their position without Christ. But that through Christ they would be justified! The word of God is a drivers manual to walk by faith with Christ. He imparts all those qualities you speak of. We in ourselves are not righteous but self centered deviant and lost. Through Jesus death at the cross are debt was paid for. Now all that remains is that you ask for Jesus to save you, be your sin bearer Lord and savior.

[providence_8]

What ELSE did Corinthians say concerning what 3 things remain Providence_8?

Corinthians was not a right up for Mr. good?
Corinthians belong to those who are in Christ?
Those who have been born again by the power of God through placing their faith in Jesus by calling on him.

The word of God was not for anyone justifying their position without Christ. But a drivers manual to walk by faith with Christ. He imparts all those qualities you speak of. We in ourselves are not righteous but self centered.

[providence_8]

The search comtinues.
Meanwhile these 3 things remain. Do you really KNOW them? Or simply profess with annoying repetition?

Believe me that I know when people use doctrinal dictation? But speaking blunt and simple is just that blunt and simple and humanly apologetic with sympathy and compassion? Why? Because Jesus said so!

[providence_8]

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

[emelder]

A great American ... RIP ... well done, Mr. Newman. I always loved, "Cool Hand Luke" the best -- No man can eat 50 eggs! A life very well lived. My sympathies to his family at this time. RIP.

[providence_8]

Just because God has no justice outside of life, doesnt say he didn''''t command you to BE IN THE wORLD.
Posted by zeroKnots at 10:52 PM : Sep 27, 2008

Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Paul would want us to know this!