Paul Newman RIP

[Anthony_Mustang]

A billion ladies hearts (and no doubt a few gay one's) have probably been broken with this news.

Have to admit that Paul Newman has always been one of my favourite stars.

RIP

[Lefty]

Also, I would add that a young Paul Newman, around the time he was in Hud, was the most handsome Caucasian man I can ever imagine. Not that he wasn't when older too.

[post-op lover]

He's not gone if we remember him as full of life.

POL

[pacman]

You have to admire a guy who achieved so much but never showed arrogance, wasn't a philanderer & stayed true to his wife despite the adoration he received.

Here was a guy who kept his ego in check his entire career.

Paul Newman. RIP

[strocube]

The guy was pure greatness. He was a gifted actor and philanthropist who shunned most of the trappings of Hollywood celebrity.
He had a great life.
RIP Mr. Newman

[rossco]

Brilliant actor - always underplayed his role.

Cool hand Luke

I'm shaking it boss - what a line.

Great personality and a good contributor to society who did not seek the limelight.
I hope he makes movies in Heaven now

[allstar88]

cool hand luke

[Lefty]

[Lefty]

[Lefty]

Paul Newman 1925-2008: By His Works Ye Shall Know Him

"Because Newman was so involved in the world around him, it was easy to believe that he would just go on forever.

It's become fashionable in right-wing circles to pooh-pooh the social activism of left-leaing actors. "They should just shut up," we hear. Of course when Chuck Norris claims to have done two tours in Iraq, or Charlton Heston advocates for guns, the right says nary a word. But if Brad Pitt decides to hold a contest for building green homes in New Orleans for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, his motives must somehow be suspect.

Oddly absent from the right's vitriol was Paul Newman. Perhaps it was because he was Hud and Cool Hand Luke and Rocky Graziano and Butch Cassidy and Fast Eddie Felson -- "manly men" that didn't threaten Republicans. Or maybe it was his late-life fascination with race cars, which gave him manly-man cred among the NASCAR set. Or perhaps it was just that aside for his support for Eugene McCarthy, which landed him on Richard Nixon's enemies list, his was a quiet activism, one that later in life manifested quietly, almost stealthily, on supermarket shelves all over America, where even people who watched American Idol and NASCAR might buy a jar of Newman's Own brand salsa to have with their chips on Super Bowl Sunday. It was an activism that manifested in the concept of the Hole-In-The-Wall Camps, named for one of his most beloved films, for kids with serious illnesses.



Not for Newman the self-promotion of Don Imus, who seems to think he can make up for his horrific misogyny, hostility, and racism by using the kids from his own ranches as human shields. Newman just very quietly went about becoming a philanthropist with little fuss, while continuing an astonishing body of celluloid masterpieces well into his Social Security years.

It's hard to believe that someone like Paul Newman could exist. Here was this Jewish guy, one of the most drop-dead gorgeous men ever to occupy this planet, who played men that men admired and over whom women swooned. Here was a guy who could have womanized his way through Hollywood for five decades, but instead married actress Joanne Woodward and created one of the longest-lasting love stories in the industry's history. He was an actor who could easily have been typecast into beefcake roles but instead proved he could do anything, including showing a deft hand at comedy. When he decided he wanted to race cars, he became an adept racer instead of just a dilettante. And when his little business bottling his own vinaigrette salad dressing took off like a shot, he decided that the business model of his burgeoning business should be to pour his own profits into charity. None of this ten percent horsepuckey for Paul Newman. Instead, over $250 million in proceeds from the sale of the Newman's Own products have been plowed into charitable work.

Because Newman was so involved in the world around him, it was easy to believe that he would just go on forever. Because how could the world possibly go on spinning without Paul Newman in it? And yet today, here we are, and he is gone -- and yet not gone. Because we have five decades of brilliant film work to enjoy, and Sockarooni spaghetti sauce to eat, and the example he set to follow, and just hope that we can make even a small fraction of the difference in the world that he did.

I wanted to find a clip of the scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in which Butch and Sundance blow up the train, but alas I couldn't find one..."

[Here is one of the funnier scenes from the movie.]







http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/100627/

[Lefty]

A little trivia tidbit...Strother Martin, one of the all time great character actors, who was also an Olympic class springboard diving champion as a young man, besides playing Percy Garris in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, also played the warden in Cool Hand Luke.

[jimslim]

Great post Lefty .

I must admit that until the last few days I only knew him as a cool actor who made some movies I loved , and a guy who made my favourite pasta sauce .

Fair enough , those two reasons alone are good enough to love the guy .

When I read of his dislike of all the fame and bullshit trappings of Hollywood , his views and his charity work , he goes way up in my estimations .

To quote his long time friend and business partner A.E. Hotchner -
"He was always for the underdog . I think one of the things he was proudest of , I would say most proudest of , was that he was on Nixons enemies list .He was really incensed by the fact that Bush allowed tax breaks for the very wealthy , even though he was very wealthy .
He was the same man in 2008 as he was in 1956 . He never changed despite all the movies and the accolades ."

I wonder how many of todays pampered "superstars " will be able to claim a legacy like this in the future

[marshal]

You got to admire a guy who can outshine a hot shot actor like tom cruise in the colour of money! The age difference was great, but Paul Newman showed shorty tom up,big time!
RIP PAUL NEWMAN

[Looker]

(Lefty @ Sep. 30 2008,01:23) Newman just very quietly went about becoming a philanthropist with little fuss..

I am not particularly fond of Newman's interpretations as actor. Nothing wrong with them..just not so fond of. We all have different tastes anyway..

However, the thing that impressed me most, and that sometimes I quoted when talking to people, was that during an interview about his charity works and Sokarooni sauces he was asked why he was giving away all such wealth.

He simply replied "I just don't need it"

To me that is becoming the essence of my life. More than ever, however not infallible, I don't buy or do things that I don't like/want/need... "I just don't need it"