The New Hampshire

Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Arts & Living

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.

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