Film-Tech Cinema Systems
Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE


  
my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Paul Newman R.I.P.

   
Author Topic: Paul Newman R.I.P.
Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 09-27-2008 10:34 AM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Another one of the greats is gone.

Link

Paul Newman, the legendary actor whose steely blue eyes, good-humored charm and advocacy of worthy causes made him one of the most renowned figures in American arts, has died of cancer at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 83.

He died Friday, according to spokeswoman Marni Tomljanovic.

Newman attained stardom in the 1950s and never lost the movie-star aura, appearing in such classic films as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Exodus," "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "The Verdict."

He finally won an Oscar in 1986 -- on his eighth try -- for "The Color of Money," a sequel to "The Hustler." He later received two more Oscar nominations. Among his other awards was the Motion Picture Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

"Paul took advantage of what life offered him, and while personally reluctant to acknowledge that he was doing anything special, he forever changed the lives of many with his generosity, humor, and humanness," said Robert Forrester, vice chairman of the actor's Newman's Own Foundation. "His legacy lives on in the charities he supported and the Hole in the Wall Camps, for which he cared so much."

Newman was a Method-trained actor who blazed his own career trail and didn't shy away from risky roles -- inside and outside films.

A portrayal as a race-car driver in 1969's "Winning" led to his actual competition in races; at 70, he participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona and he was still racing at age 80.

He stumped for liberal causes, including Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential candidacy, and earned a spot on Richard Nixon's enemies list -- "the highest single honor I've ever received," he said.

In 1982, Newman and his friend A.E. Hotchner founded Newman's Own, a food company that produced food ranging from pasta sauces to salad dressing to chocolate chip cookies.

"The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films," Newman once wryly noted.

To date, the company -- which donates all profits to charities such as Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camps -- has given away more than $200 million. Newman established the camp to benefit gravely ill children.

"He saw the camps as places where kids could escape the fear, pain and isolation of their conditions, kick back and raise a little hell," Forrester said.

Today, there are 11 Hole in the Wall Gang camps around the world, with additional programs in Africa and Vietnam. Some 135,000 children have attended the camps -- free of charge.

The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps "is part of his living legacy, and for that we remain forever grateful," the association said in a statement.

"We are greatly saddened by his passing. His leadership and spirit can never be replaced. But he has left us strong and confident."

Newman was half of one of the most successful showbiz marriages -- to Joanne Woodward, whom he married in 1958. He observed that just because he was a sex symbol there was no reason to commit adultery.

"Why would I go out for a hamburger when [I] have steak at home?" he asked.

CNN's Larry King, who interviewed Newman through the years, said he greatly admired the actor.

"He lived a long and terrific life," King said Saturday morning. "He was much appreciated. Did some theater, graduated Yale. Long marriage to Joanne Woodward. One of those showbiz rarities."

Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. His father owned a successful sporting goods store, but young Paul was taken with his mother's and uncle's interest in the arts and started acting while still in grade school.

"I wasn't running toward the theater but running away from the sporting goods store," he said later.

After being kicked out of Ohio University for unruly behavior, he joined the Navy and served for three years during World War II. After the war he attended Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where his unruly ways led him to theater.

Newman continued studying acting at Yale and at New York's Actors' Studio, earning jobs in the growing medium of television.

He made his Broadway debut in William Inge's 1953 play "Picnic," opposite Kim Stanley, one of the most successful stage actresses of her time. The next year he made his first Hollywood film, "The Silver Chalice," a bomb that he mocked for the rest of his life. He even took out a newspaper ad apologizing for his performance.

But success as boxer Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956) made him a star, and more hits followed: "The Long, Hot Summer" (1958) opposite his soon-to-be wife, Woodward; "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958) with Elizabeth Taylor; and "The Young Philadelphians" (1959).

But the 1960s were to be Newman's decade, a perfect match for his ironic, anti-establishment attitude. iReport.com: What do you remember best about Paul Newman?

He began the decade with "Exodus" (1960), an epic about Israel's founding directed by Otto Preminger, and succeeded it with "The Hustler" (1961) as pool shark Fast Eddie Felson; "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962), another Tennessee Williams work; and "Hud" (1963), "Harper" (1966) and "Hombre" (1967), continuing a good-luck streak of films beginning with "H."

After "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), in which he played the egg-eating malcontented title character, he turned to directing, earning raves for his behind-the-camera work on "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), starring his wife.

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) and "The Sting" (1973) teamed Newman with co-star Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill. The trio proved to be box-office gold: They were two of the highest-grossing films of their time, winning a slew of awards -- including a best picture Oscar for the latter, a tale of con men in 1930s Chicago.

Newman finally teamed up with Steve McQueen, who had been scheduled to be his co-star in "Butch Cassidy," in 1974's "The Towering Inferno." Though the Irwin Allen-produced disaster film earned mixed critical notices, it, too, was one of the most successful box-office films of the era.

Newman's career started faltering in the late '70s as he turned his attention to his other pursuits, notably racing. The loss of his son Scott to a drug overdose in 1978 hit the actor hard.

He made an artistic comeback with 1982's "The Verdict," the story of an ambulance-chasing hard-luck lawyer in which Newman appeared broken, raspy and every inch of his 58 years.

By the time Newman starred in "The Color of Money," directed by Martin Scorsese, his movie career had slipped a notch. Never afraid of playing his age, Newman portrayed a repressed businessman in 1990's "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge," a cantankerous lodger in "Nobody's Fool" (1994), a fatherly, retired gangster in "Road to Perdition" (2002), and the voice of a Hudson Hornet in "Cars" (2006).

He gained some of his best reviews for his performance as the stage manager in a Broadway production of Thornton Wilder's classic play, "Our Town," filmed for television in 2003, and was perfectly cast as the rascally father to Ed Harris' responsible diner owner in the miniseries "Empire Falls."

In recent years, Newman talked about doing another film with his friend Redford, but the two couldn't settle on a script. In 2007, Newman said he was retiring from acting, saying he'd lost confidence in his abilities. Still, he marveled at his own resilience.

"You can't be as old as I am without waking up with a surprised look on your face every morning: 'Holy Christ, whaddya know - I'm still around!' It's absolutely amazing that I survived all the booze and smoking and the cars and the career."

Newman, who was married to Jackie Witt from 1949 to 1957, is survived by his wife, Joanne Woodward, and five children.

 |  IP: Logged

Richard Fowler
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA
Registered: Jun 2001


 - posted 09-27-2008 12:39 PM      Profile for Richard Fowler   Email Richard Fowler   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
He was a very smart, nice, and the ultimate humane individual. I worked on Harry and Son; my partner and I had some conversations with Mr. Newman during the show which have become positive memories.
'Holy Christ, Whaddya know - I'm still around'....I can relate to that feeling every morning...

 |  IP: Logged

Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004


 - posted 09-27-2008 01:54 PM      Profile for Justin Hamaker   Author's Homepage   Email Justin Hamaker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Such a loss. He'll be missed.

 |  IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 09-27-2008 02:50 PM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Newman was nothing less than an icon of Hollywood. There's very few living actors whose passing would be as big a news story as this.

 |  IP: Logged

Claude S. Ayakawa
Film God

Posts: 2738
From: Waipahu, Hawaii, USA
Registered: Aug 2002


 - posted 09-27-2008 06:35 PM      Profile for Claude S. Ayakawa   Author's Homepage   Email Claude S. Ayakawa   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yes, Paul Newman will be missed! The thing I respect the most about this wonderful person was his devotion to his wife , Joanne Woodward for over fifty years unlike many of his colleagues who stay married only for a short period of time before marrying someone else. Rest in peace, Mr. Newman.

-Claude

 |  IP: Logged

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001


 - posted 09-28-2008 12:30 AM      Profile for Bobby Henderson   Email Bobby Henderson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
There is that famous quote of his regarding the faithful attitude he had to his marriage. "Hey, Paul, you're a sex symbol. You could have anyone. Why don't you play the field?" His response: "Why should I go out for hamburger when I can eat steak at home?"

Newman was a class act.

 |  IP: Logged

Jeff Stricker
Master Film Handler

Posts: 481
From: Calumet, Mi USA
Registered: Nov 1999


 - posted 09-28-2008 03:44 AM      Profile for Jeff Stricker   Email Jeff Stricker   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"What we have here is failure to communicate" Such a loss. RIP, Paul. [Frown]

 |  IP: Logged

Sally Ann Burgess
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 120
From: Queenstown, New Zealand
Registered: Apr 2008


 - posted 09-28-2008 05:32 AM      Profile for Sally Ann Burgess   Email Sally Ann Burgess   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Daniel Craig paid tribute to him by saying an era had come to an end. He was spot on. There are not many genuine, bona fide real movie 'stars' left now. Such a shame. Rest in peace, Blue Eyes. [Frown]

 |  IP: Logged

Louis Belloisy
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 120
From: morris, ct usa
Registered: Jun 2006


 - posted 09-28-2008 12:21 PM      Profile for Louis Belloisy   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Belloisy   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I had the pleasure of flying Paul several times in a helicopter during the early 1980's when he was looking for a site for his "Hole in the Wall" camp for kids.

he was a class act. nice person, great humor.
and did i mention that he had the bluest eyes i have ever seen on anyone.

lou

 |  IP: Logged

Bob Koch
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 183
From: williams ca
Registered: Nov 2001


 - posted 10-05-2008 07:32 PM      Profile for Bob Koch   Email Bob Koch   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
When I read of his passing I felt like I`d just swallowed an anvil. Such a sterling character, worthy of all emulation. What a pleasure it must have been to have him for a friend and converse with him.Boy, will he be missed;not many in his profession can compare, if any.

 |  IP: Logged

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99


 - posted 10-05-2008 09:26 PM      Profile for Mike Blakesley   Author's Homepage   Email Mike Blakesley   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Dave Letterman did a really nice tribute to him on the Late Show. You can view it at the Late Show website or it's probably on YouTube too.

 |  IP: Logged

John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999


 - posted 10-06-2008 02:38 AM      Profile for John Wilson   Email John Wilson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here it is at YouTube.

Very nice, Dave. [thumbsup]

 |  IP: Logged



All times are Central (GMT -6:00)  
   Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic    next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:



Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM 6.3.1.2

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.

© 1999-2020 Film-Tech Cinema Systems, LLC. All rights reserved.