Academy Award winning actor Paul Newman was an iconic pop culture figure in Hollywood and noted philanthropist. Newman was one of Hollywood's leading men from the 1950s through the second half of the the 20th century and into the 21st century. Newman was a popular actor whose movies endure as film classics. Paul Newman's combination of striking blue eyes, chiseled good looks, intelligence, personal charm, integrity and strength of character made him one of Hollywood's top leading men for decades.
Paul Newman Movie Highlights
Newman portrayed likeable underdogs, rogues and anti-heroes during his long career as a Hollywood actor. In Somebody Up There Likes Me (1955), Newman portrayed underdog boxer Rocky Graziano. In Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) Newman portrayed Brick Politt the damaged alcoholic son of domineering Big Daddy Pollitt (Burl Ives) and the husband of frustrated Maggie 'The Cat' (Elizabeth Taylor). In Harper (1967), Newman portrayed a hard-boiled private detective looking for a missing millionaire in Los Angeles. Cool Hand Luke (1967) starred Newman as convict Donald Graham Garrison, based on a real life character. Hud (1963) starred Paul Newman and Patricia Neal in a tragedy set on a Texas ranch. In his seventh decade, Newman portrayed a mafia don in Road to Perdition with Tom Hanks (2002).
Paul Newman and Robert Redford created memorable characters in classic buddy movies, The Sting (1973) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). While the characters operated on the wrong side of the law, the actors imbued them with likeable charm that caused audiences to root for the handsome anti-heroes. During an era that included the Vietnam and Watergate, the buddy movies offered pure escapist fun, providing audiences a needed break from reality.
Newman portrayed pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961). In The Color of Money (1986), starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, Newman revisited the role of the pool hustler, earning a Best Actor Oscar.
Paul Newman received many awards during his enduring movie career. Newman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in The Color of Money (1986). He was nominated for the Oscar for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Verdict (1982), Nobody's Fool (1994) and Road to Perdition (2002).
Paul Newman Biographical Information
According to biographical information from Turner Movie Classics (TCM), Newman was born to an affluent Jewish family in Shaker Heights, Ohio in 1926. Newman died of lung cancer on September 26, 2008. Newman had two children with his first wife, Jackie Witte; and three daughters with his second wife Joanne Woodward. Newman and Woodward were married from 1958 until his death in 2007, making it one of Hollywood's most enduring marriages.
Paul Newman Philantropist
Paul Newman donated the profits of his food company Newman's Own to charity, earning the talented actor the reputation as a philanthropist. One beneficiary of Newman's largesse is the Hole in the Wall Gang, a summer camp for seriously ill children, named after his gang in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Newman also established the Scott Newman Center for Drug Abuse Prevention, in memory of his son, who died in 1976.
Paul Newman was a handsome Hollywood leading man, actor philanthropist and a class act. Newman parlayed the profits from his success and business into helping people who are less fortunate. His work endures through classic movies and through his philanthropy.
Elizabeth Taylor Hollywood Movie Star and Celebrity
