Paul Newman, 1925 - 2008

I cannot tell you how sad I am to learn of the passing of Paul Newman. Rumors and conjecture had spread over the past months about his health, but no announcement was ever made to the public about his cancer. I love that about him: his privacy, his long marriage to Joanne Woodward, his love of racing - the fact that he was such a Hollywood icon but really wanted nothing to do with Hollywood. I do love a confident, independent man.

I cannot say which of his characters is my favorite. The early ones like Hud and Fast Eddie were so dangerously attractive, while the later ones like Butch Cassidy and Henry Gondorff are wizened, funny, and irreverant, while keeping a mentor's air toward their younger "students" - Robert Redford in both cases. I love him as the passionate, troubled love interest in both The Long Hot Summer and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and as the tortured husband in From the Terrace. Later on, his good-natured cantankerousness made him perfect for The Hudsucker Proxy, Road to Perdition, and the voice of Doc Hudson in Cars.

The funny, smart-assed tough guy who talks his way into trouble as much as out of it. The guy whose sadness, fight, confusion, and "can't knock me down" spirit made him the hero of the everyman. He created the character that suited him best and it, and he, are icons of American film.

I cannot remember when I fell in love with him first. Was it when he brushed the side of his nose in The Sting, or when he takes Etta on a morning bike ride and casually tells Sundance "I'm stealin' your woman..." ? Or perhaps it was the first time I saw his face on a bottle of salad dressing? In any case, I do wish there were more film characters, and real men, like him. He will be missed.

Be sure to read September 2008's Vanity Fair article: "The Newman Chronicles" by Patricia Bosworth

Paul Newman in 1956 by Sanford Roth

Comments

[movie fan]

it's hard not to admire Paul Newman for putting his money to work in such productive ways, such as his Newman's Own line--high quality stuff and the proceeds go to good causes... very smart.