[blunderbuss]

Hollywood movie legend Paul Newman has died at the age of 83, his spokeswoman has confirmed.

Marni Tomljanovic said the blue-eyed star of films like Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid died on Friday of cancer. She gave no further details.

Newman was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, winning a best actor trophy in 1987 for The Color Of Money.

In May 2007, he said he was giving up acting because he could no longer perform to the best of his ability. "I'm not able to work any more... at the level that I would want to," he told US broadcaster ABC. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

Earlier this year, he pulled out of directing a stage production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in Connecticut because of unspecified health problems. At the time, he denied reports that he was suffering from cancer, and issued a statement that said he was "doing nicely".

Although his handsome looks and piercing blue eyes made him an ideal romantic lead, Newman often played rebels, tough guys and losers. "I was always a character actor," he once said. "I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood."

He appeared in some 60 movies, including Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, The Sting and Hud. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, he worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood - including Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall and Tom Hanks. He also appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in several films including Long Hot Summer and Paris Blues. In addition, he directed her in movies such as Rachel, Rachel and The Glass Menagerie. But his most famous screen partner was undoubtedly Robert Redford, his sidekick in both Butch Cassidy and The Sting.

In addition to his Academy Award for best actor, he was given an honorary Oscar in 1986 "in recognition of his many and memorable compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft." In 1994, he won a third Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his charitable work. Newman's last film role was as the voice of Doc Hudson, one of the most famous racing cars in history, in the Pixar animation Cars.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7639614.stm

[blunderbuss]

Obituary: Paul Newman


With his piercing blue eyes and laid back style, Paul Newman became one of the most recognised leading men in Hollywood.
But he always doubted his own acting ability, once claiming that "I only got by on looks and energy."

Paul Leonard Newman was born on 26 Jan 1925 in the Shaker Heights suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. His father, Arthur, who ran a successful sports goods store, was Jewish while his mother Theresa came from a Slovakian Catholic family. It was Theresa who encouraged his early interest in things theatrical and he made his stage debut at the age of seven, in a school production of Robin Hood.

After graduating from high school he began an economics degree at Ohio University but the war cut short his studies. He joined the US Navy, hoping to become a pilot but failed the physical examination when it was discovered he was colour blind. Instead he trained as a radio operator and rear gunner, spending most of his military service flying in torpedo bombers over the Pacific.

He completed his economics degree after the war and then went on to study acting, first at Yale and then at the Actors' Studio in New York, where his contemporaries included Marlon Brando and James Dean.

He made his Broadway debut in 1953 in a production of William Inge's play Picnic which ran for nearly 500 performances. His film debut, a year later, came in The Silver Chalice, a biblical epic,which Newman allegedly described as "the worst motion picture of the 1950s".
When the film was shown on US TV a decade later, he took out an advertisement in Variety, apologising for his performance, thereby ensuring huge ratings for the broadcast.

By the late 1950s Newman had become a top box office draw smouldering alongside Elizabeth Taylor in the 1958 film, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In 1961 he won widespread acclaim, and a BAFTA, as "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Hustler, a role he would reprise in the Color of Money 25 years later. The films came thick and fast throughout the 1960s including Hud, Hombre and a part as the eponymous rebellious prisoner in Cool Hand Luke.

In 1969 he teamed up with Robert Redford for the western, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, which became one of the biggest grossing films of all time. He worked with Redford again in 1973 in The Sting, in which a complicated plot was hatched by a pair of hustlers to con a big time gangster, played by Robert Shaw.

He continued to widen his repertoire playing a diverse selection of roles throughout the 1970s and 80s. They varied from the architect in The Towering Inferno, a hard drinking hockey coach in Slap Shot and the taciturn cop Murphy in Fort Apache, The Bronx.

After six Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, Newman finally got hold of an Oscar for the 1986 film Color of Money where he appeared alongside Tom Cruise.

Much to the chagrin of his appreciative, mostly female, audiences, Newman often liked to work behind the camera. He produced and directed his wife, Joanne Woodward, in several of his own films, including the Oscar-nominated Rachel, Rachel.

In his later years, Newman turned down many film offers preferring to concentrate on his sports team and business interests. His passion for motor racing had been kindled following his appearance in the 1969 film, Winning. His first professional race came in 1972 and he continued to compete throughout the next 20 years including a second place in the 1979 Le Mans 24 hour race. In 1982, he took co-ownership of the Newman-Haas team, which attracted racing stars Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell. At the age of 70 he became the oldest driver to compete in a major event when he took part in the 24 hour race at Daytona Beach, Florida.

In 1982, appreciative dinner guests persuaded the actor to bottle his own brand of salad dressing for mass-production. By 2006, his Newman's Own range of pasta sauces, lemonade and popcorn, had raised more than $200 million for good causes. These included a residential summer camp for sick children and the Scott Newman drug rehabilitation centre, in memory of the son from his first marriage who died in 1978 after an accidental drug overdose.

Newman continued to make occasional returns to the big screen, co-starring with his wife in the 1990 film Mr and Mrs Bridgend later appearing in Twilight, Nobody's Fool and Message in a Bottle. He was again tempted back in front of the camera in 2001 by Sam Mendes to win rave notices for his part in The Road to Perdition.

In 2007 he announced officially that he was retiring from acting, believing that he was no longer able to perform at the level he wanted.
"You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

Following the end of his first marriage to Jackie Witte, he married the actress Joanne Woodward in 1958. It was one of the most enduring relationships in Hollywood and the couple jealously guarded their privacy. Once asked if he was ever attracted by the beautiful women with whom he worked Newman famously replied, "Why go out for a hamburger when you can have steak at home".

He credited a regular beer intake for his good fortune, and a sign on his office door summed up his approach, "If we ever have a plan, we're screwed."

[RdTv]

.....''sometimes nothing's a real cool hand...''

[floatingslowly]

goodnight, sweet prince.

[MellySingsDoom]

Rest in piece, Mr Newman

[Sonic Youth 37]

No. Fucking. Way!!! . That settles it...I'm so going to be Cool Hand Luke for Halloween. This one's for you Paul.

[!@#$%!]

ah, crap!

 

[greedrex]

rip

[davenotdead]

nooo. aw, the last thing i bought at the store was actually two bottles of his sauce.

[Everyneurotic]

good actor, what a shame.

i was watching torn curtain the other day.

[pantophobia]

very unfortunate, a great actor and activist

[jon boy]

he made excellent salad dressings and some not bad movies either. real shame. rip.

[gmku]

This is sad indeed. One of my favorite actors. He and Steve McQueen were the ultimate in 60s cool.

[Sonic Youth 37]

Originally Posted by gmku

This is sad indeed. One of my favorite actors. He and Steve McQueen were the ultimate in 60s cool.

Repped. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman were the coolest in the 60s.

[PAULYBEE2656]

very sad news. a legend if there was any!!!!

ok, great film star but as ye know i have another intrest apart from music and thats motorsport so im gonna mention paul newmans other highly successful career.....

 

Newman was an avid auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports ("the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in") while training for and filming Winning, a 1969 film. Newman's first professional event was in 1972, in Thompson, Connecticut, and he was a common competitor in Sports Car Club of America events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning several championships. He later drove in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in Dick Barbour's Porsche 935 and finished the race in second. Newman rejoined Dick Barbour in 2000 to compete in the Petit Le Mans.
From the mid-'70s to the early '90s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns (later rebranded as Nissans) in the Trans-Am Series. He became heavily associated with the brand during the '80s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. Among his final experiences in racing was competing in the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.



Newman initially owned his own racing team which competed in the Can-Am series, but later co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film Super Speedway, which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing. Newman also owned a car NASCAR Winston Cup before selling it to Penske Racing, where it now serves as the #12 car.


Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) is a motor racing team competing in the IndyCar Series. The team operations are based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed when actor Paul Newman and long-time racer Carl Haas, competitors in the Can-Am championship, each began looking to Champ Car racing in 1982. The two decided to join forces for 1983, with Mario Andretti as the team’s driver. Since then, the team has won 105 Champ Car races, as well the drivers championship in 1984 with Mario Andretti, 1991 with Michael Andretti, 1993 with rookie Nigel Mansell, 2002 with Cristiano da Matta and the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 championships with Sébastien Bourdais. In 2007 Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company, resulting in the change of team name.

 

NHLR was the most successful team that was active as of the 2007 Champ Car World Series. Since the team's inception in 1983, its drivers have won seven points championships. The first four championship crowns came in Champ Car's predecessor series, CART, and four others by Sébastien Bourdais in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 were Champ Car World Series titles. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is also second overall in driver wins. The team has had many notable drivers over the years, including Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Sébastien Bourdais, and current drivers, Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.
In 2005, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The drivers were Bruno Junqueira and Sébastien Bourdais, the eventual champion. Junqueira was injured in a crash during the 2005 Indianapolis 500, however, and was replaced in the cockpit by Oriol Servia.



For 2006, Newman/Haas Racing fielded two cars in the Champ Car World Series. The cars were based on Lola chassis, powered by Ford Cosworth engines and rode on Bridgestone tires. The drivers were Sébastien Bourdais and Bruno Junqueira.
NHLR earned its 100th Champ Car World Series win on June 10, 2007 as Sébastian Bourdais won the Portland Grand Prix by a margin of over 15 seconds.
On January 29, 2008 NHLR announced that Justin Wilson will team with Graham Rahal for the 2008 Champ Car World Series season. NHLR will attempt to earn their ninth series title in their 26th season of Champ Car competition. Justin Wilson has finished runner-up in the Champ Car World Series driver standings in 2006 and 2007 to Sébastien Bourdais and NHLR.


After more than a decade of intense rivalry, Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series agreed on February 22nd, 2008, to re-unify American open-wheel racing for 2008 and beyond. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing welcomed the news and confirmed their participation in the unified IndyCar Series in 2008 with Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.

 

 

[ni'k]

this isnt the kind of thing id usually care about...

however his perfromance in Road To Perdition is fuckin classic.

im gonna watch it now in tribute to the guy.

[Dead-Air]

I had no idea he was as old as he was. He always seemed a decade or two younger than his actual age.

To his credit, he set a great example of how being a celebrity didn't make one have to be an asshole.

It's interesting when you look at those two facts together, he had quite a bit in common with Sonic Youth.