Jump to content

  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Paul Newman dead

Steve Foss

By Steve Foss
in Entertainment

 Share

Recommended Posts

Steve Foss Grand Master

Steve Foss

Posted
Posted

Paul Newman, one of the best actors ever, just died after a long bout with cancer. He was 83.

He certainly enriched my life with his excellent performances. I'll be thinking of him today and what he meant to so many of us as I go about my daily business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
croixflats Grand Master

croixflats

Posted
Posted

He was and still is one class act that few come close to. His many movies were diverse and of quality.

In my mind he will be remembered as a person with humility and generosity and caring, and with a healthy sense of humour then the movies that he help make so great.

Quote on ageing; "I'm not mellower, I'm not less angry, I'm not less self critacal, I'm not less tanacious. Maybe the best part is that your liver can not handle those beers at noon time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Steve Foss Grand Master

Steve Foss

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Here's a great piece on Newman.

**************

By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Movie Critic 52

Paul Newman couldn't have existed today — at least, not the way we came to know him.

Sure, the talent would have been there, the classic good looks, the magnetism, the easy charm. But the privacy he demanded (and won), which helped establish and solidify his mystique as a bona fide movie star, never would have been afforded him in our tabloid-driven, celebrity-obsessed culture.

Sad but true. Part of why we were fascinated with Newman, who died Friday at 83 of cancer, was because we didn't know every gory detail of his life, even though he'd reached the zenith of fame and popularity. He left us craving more — and that he lived and died far from Hollywood's glare in the small town of Westport, Conn., in the converted farmhouse he shared with his wife of 50 years, Joanne Woodward, speaks volumes not only about who he was but who he didn't want to be.

It's hard to think of an actor today who compares in that regard: someone who's blazingly confident on-screen but maintains some mystery about who he really is off of it, someone who would make even hardened, cynical journalists go weak in the knees upon meeting face-to-face. Newman's longtime friend and co-star, Robert Redford, certainly qualifies. But of the current generation of stars? We know too much about Tom Cruise. Will Smith? Leonardo DiCaprio? Johnny Depp, maybe — though he's carved out a path of quirky character roles, despite his leading-man looks.

George Clooney springs to mind, but even he has fought public battles with the paparazzi over the need to respect celebrities' privacy. Clooney himself seemed to recognize the legacy Newman left in reacting to his death Saturday morning: "He set the bar too high for the rest of us ... not just actors, but all of us. He will be greatly missed," he said — through his publicist.

Larger than life? Sure. But looking back at Newman's career, which encompassed nearly 60 feature films over the past half-century, it's the range that leaves an impression. You never forgot you were watching Paul Newman. He was a superstar, after all. He was the draw. But he could fit into a wide variety of parts — unlike some other actors with longevity and stature, who shall remain nameless for these purposes, who have devolved into caricatures of themselves as they've aged.

In just a sampling, Newman played:

• A washed-up football player in Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958).

• Pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson in "The Hustler" (1961), the role he would reprise in "The Color of Money" (1986), which, surprisingly, earned him his only Academy Award in 10 nominations.

• A bad-boy cowboy in "Hud" (1963).

• A rebellious prisoner in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967).

• A train robber alongside Redford, iconically, in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).

• The player-coach of a small-town hockey team in the comedy cult favorite "Slap Shot" (1977).

• A wrongly accused suspect in a rare film that gets journalism right, "Absence of Malice" (1981).

• A cantankerous grandfather in "Nobody's Fool" (1994).

• A formidable mob boss in "Road to Perdition" (2002).

Newman came up in the Method-acting tradition, a la Brando, but there was never anything obviously studied about him; he made the swagger look natural. And his evolution over the years — from young and dangerous to middle-aged and struggling to older and wiser — constantly carried with it the aura of dignity.

"His powerful eloquence, his consummate sense of craft, so consummate that you didn't see any sense of effort up there on the screen, set a new standard," said Martin Scorsese, who directed him in "The Color of Money."

Newman himself didn't enjoy talking about acting, and could come off as a bit distant in interviews when asked about it. He did offer some insight to his motivation, however, in 2002:

"I used to make three pictures a year, and now I make a picture every three years. Things change. There have been a lot of good things out there, but they weren't the kind of pictures that I wanted to make. I didn't want to do pictures about explosions. I don't want to do pictures about shattered glass and broken bodies and blood. That just doesn't interest me."

Of course, we came to understand what interested him through his off-camera pursuits later in life. His passion came shining through in his love of, and talent for, auto racing. But it's through his philanthropy — the Newman's Own Foundation, which has raised more than $250 million for charities worldwide, and the Hole in the Wall Camps for children with life-threatening diseases — that he showed his true heart.

Maybe Paul Newman wasn't so hard to figure out after all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bobby Bass Grand Master

Bobby Bass

Posted
Posted

Paul Newman, just a [PoorWordUsage] of a nice guy. My friend Elmer who passed away a few years ago would talk about Paul Newman. Back in the 50's Elmer had rented a cabin up on lake Vermilion for a month. To his surprise his neighbor was Paul Newman. Being about the same age they shared some fishing days and a few beers on the lake and became friends. Almost 50 years later they still kept in contact. Elmer would call Paul when he was running low on his popcorn and Mr. Newman would send him a case. I was at his house one day and he said he need to call about some popcorn. As I sat at the kitchen table he called his friend spoke for a few minutes and asked if I wanted to say hello. I took the phone and Paul asked me how the old fart was doing. Just a [PoorWordUsage] of a nice guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gary Crichton Mentor

Gary Crichton

Posted
Posted

I assume some station will have a movie memorial for him. All of his movies should be replayed soon.

He was a great guy, and the thing that impresses me is a movie actor married to the same person for 50 years. That has to be a record.

G.C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

  I accept