 "Photo:")
At 83 years old, mesmerizing actor and philanthropist Paul Newman succumbed to lung cancer, leaving behind him a remarkable career and legacy.
For months, tabloids teemed with rumors that Newman was fatally ill. And for months, Newman remained scrupulously private about his health. According to Vanity Fair magazine, Newman humorously replied that he was suffering from "athlete's foot and hair loss" when questioned about his harrowing physical appearance.
It was this celebrated tongue-in-cheek attitude (and of course, those magical baby blue eyes) that enchanted the world.
Born in 1925 in Ohio, Newman grew up with a taste for practical jokes and a love for idealism. He later served in the Navy during World War II before attending Kenyon College, and later Yale University, to study drama.
It was during this period that Newman studied under the revered aesthetic director and teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio in New York City.
According to Delia Konzett, UNH Assistant Professor of English and Cinema/American/Women's Studies, it was in New York that Newman "gave off a very different aura of sexuality, which defined his acting." Unlike classmates Marlon Brando and James Dean, Newman was "cool, collected and restrained".
Newman's sworn brand of luck landed him a top talent agent who got him starring roles in live television shows and in a string of Broadway performances such as The Desperate Hours. Instantly, audiences began to absorb and revere Newman's chiseled, flawless face and impenetrable talent.
Newman's wildly successful film career began in the mid-1950s. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) is arguably the first film where Newman's intense acting ability is not only showcased, but recognized. Here, Newman "Acts the cool, collective drunk and shattered idealist," according to Konzett. His performance in Cat earned him his first Academy Award nomination -- the first of a total of ten.
Newman continued to appear in a number of applauded films; however, the presence of equally distinguished method actor, Marlon Brando, loomed over Newman's spotlight. As reported by Mark Harris of Entertainment Weekly, Newman "was appreciated more for his beauty than his talent through his early years".
Yet films like Hud (1963) and The Hustler (1961) comprise some of Newman's most indelible performances that today are heralded as being some of the most influential on his many contemporaries. Newman's demeanor on and off stage oozes "self-mockery, a recognition and embarrassment of his good looks and its effect on people" said Konzett.
It wouldn't be until 1967 when Newman filmed the highly political film Cool Hand Luke that his timeless appeal and magnetism launched him into superstardom. The film's anti-establishment sentiment mirrored the mood of the 1960s as the Vietnam War raged in America, while exploring power relations. Newman played the title character whose inability to conform to the prison system pilots the narrative. This film would pave the road for a new passion Newman would embark and endorse: politics, and more specifically, anti-(Joe) McCarthyism.
As Newman grew more disaffected with his own celebrity and increasingly embarrassed of his great looks, he became progressively embedded in the political spectrum. His support of anti-war activist Eugene McCarthy for the 1968 presidential race raised eyebrows nationally at a time when the actor was already labeled a communist for his anti-war promotion.
While Newman dutifully lobbied for McCarthy, it took some convincing him to accompany the Democratic candidate to New Hampshire in the cold, blistering weather.
For McCarthy, it was great that he did. Undoubtedly, the attendance of over 2,000 people at one rally (which reportedly consisted of many middle-aged women and teenagers) was credited to the seismic presence of Newman.
It was here, in the granite state, that Newman's activism and enthusiasm persuaded people to support McCarthy and later, drove Lyndon B. Johnson out of the race. It also landed him on Richard Nixon's enemies' list -- an achievement Newman considered one of the greatest in his multi-faceted career.
And then, in 1969 came Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- a Western that embodied the value of true friendship. Newman's "Butch Cassidy is the quintessential loveable bad guy who acts first and thinks later," said Konzett, while getting Robert Redford's Sundance Kid into a number of troubling situations.
Newman and Redford's collaboration proved to be one of the greatest pairings of Newman's film career. The duo formed a friendship that modeled that of their characters and would last for the rest of their lives. Upon learning of Newman's death, Redford said in a statement, "I have lost a real friend. My life - and this country - is better for his being in it".
The name of their on-screen band of criminals, the Hole in the Wall Gang, resonated throughout Newman's life. In 1985, he would use the name for his summer camp for children with life-threatening diseases, which would later multiply to numerous camps. However, Newman's philanthropic career would begin years earlier in the wake of a devastating tragedy.
When Newman's only son, Scott, died of an accidental overdose, Newman said he was "emotionally remote" from his children, saying, "I don't think I'll ever escape the guilt." In 1980 he started the Scott Newman Foundation, a drug addiction prevention center, in honor of his late child.
That same year, Newman decided to extend his already admirable resume. During Christmas, Newman dabbled with his own experimental recipes for salad dressings when he was struck with a new idea: entrepreneurship.
Along with friend and partner, A.E. Hotchner, Newman's Own officially took off in 1982 after Stew Leonard, a supermarket owner, agreed to distribute their product. The dressing proved to be another massive success for Newman, which eventually branched into more food products.
Be the first to comment on this article!