Our actor spotlight for the month of September is Paul Newman. Thank you for reading This Day in Film History’s month spotlights.

Paul Newman embodied the perfect film star. He was handsome, he was talented, and (most importantly) he was real. When he was on screen, we believed him. He captured audiences with the emotion in his unbelievably blue eyes. Let’s take a longer look at his legendary career and his unique life.

The Begining

Paul Newman was born on January 26th, 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. His father was Jewish and owned a sporting goods store and his mother was a follower of ‘Christian Science’. From childhood, Newman showed interest in acting. He was 7 years old when he played his first role as a court jester in ‘Robin Hood’, a stage production. Later in his schooling years, he pursued sports which he, self admittedly, wasn’t good at.

During World War Two Newman joined the navy. He first attempted to join the airforce but was refused when his color blindness was discovered (a comical reality considering the fame of his gentle blue eyes.) After the war, Newman received his Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College and joined a travel theatre troupe as an actor for many months.

Using the money he attained from the theatre and selling his father’s business he attended Yale University to become a film director. Directing didn’t suit Newman and after only a year he would leave his college education and travel to New York to be trained in the famous Actors Studio, headed by Lee Strasberg (a famous teacher of acting and proponent of “method acting”).

Newman’s Career

When Newman arrived in New York it was 1951. He was married to Jackie Wittie. The couple was simply trying to make a living on Newman’s actors’ salary. After two long years in New York City Newman finally made his Broadway debut in a play called Picnic by William Inge. Over the next few years, Newman would find work where he could on broadway or on the airwaves, making many appearances on television programs. He was a successful, professional, actor by most standards, but he wanted more.

In February 1954, Newman would collide with another screen legend during a screen test for Elia Kazan’s upcoming film, East of Eden. James Dean and Paul Newman auditioned for the roles of two brothers in the film. Newman for Aron Trask and Dean for his twin brother Cal. Those who have seen the classic film adaptation of Steinbeck’s novel know that Dean won the part but Newman would lose out to Richard Davalos. We can only imagine how the film would’ve shined differently had Paul Newman won the role.

After James Dean’s death, Paul Newman would be cast as his replacement in a number of films and television programs. In the same year as the screen test, 1954, Newman won a part in his very first Hollywood film. The film was called The Silver Chalice and it was a complete failure at the box office. Newman would later admit he hated the film. He claimed the film was, “the worst motion picture produced during the 1950s”. Director Martin Scorsese would admit that the film was a guilty pleasure of his.

The film that caused Newman to explode into the beginnings of stardom was 1958s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman side by side. As a couple, they were sexy, compelling, and audiences loved it. Newman was awarded his first Acadamy Award nomination. The film was nominated for a total of six awards but won none. Watch this wonderful scene from the film featuring Taylor and Newman.

From the release of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Paul Newman’s career took off. Any doubts about his potential and his viability as a leading man were shot dead. As his career exploded, so did his first marriage. In 1958 Newman officially divorced his wife Jackie Wittte. The former couple had 3 kids together, a son and two daughters. Not long after, he would marry actress Joanne Woodward. It was his budding romance with Woodward that led to the end of his first marriage.

The ‘new’ Newman’s would go on to have three daughters together and they would raise their family outside of Hollywood in Connecticut. They would remain married for 50 years until his death in 2008. Newman’s second marriage seemed to be a healthy and happy one (especially by Hollywood standards). He was once asked about his fidelity with his wife and explained, “Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?”

“Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?”

Paul Newman

Newman Becomes a Legend

Over the next two years and throughout the 60s, Newman stared in huge films like Exodus (1960), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967), and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). It was the last of those listed films that secured Newman’s position in film history. He had many great films leading up to Butch Cassidy but it was that film that stood above the rest.

Butch Cassidy garnered seven Acadamy Award nominations including Best Picture but would only win four (Best Picture not among them). The film is a western of epic proportions. The cinematography, legendary. The writing, impeccable. The acting, you don’t want to miss it. One scene that encapsulates the entire personality of the film is the knife fight scene near the beginning of the film. Watch it below.

Butch Cassidy began a legendary duo of Robert Redford and Paul Newman. The two men wouldn’t do as many films together as other Hollywood duos but they would achieve just as much impact. Newman and Redford worked perfectly together. They could play two men so close they might be brothers. The duo would go on to costar in another film alongside Robert Redford called The Sting. The film was released in 1973 and would be nominated for 10 Acadamy Awards and won 7 including Best Picture.

I always found Butch Cassidy to be a more deserving film of those accolades when compared to The Sting but both movies are still very good. As the 1970s progressed Newman would take roles in some notable films like The Towering Inferno (1974), Mel Brooks Silent Movie (1976), and Slap Shot (1977).

Off to the Races

Paul Newman was one in a million. He was a legendary Hollywood star but there was one part of his life that solidified his separation from the typical Hollywood actor. He loved to race.

Newman’s love for racing began after training for the film Winning (1969). In that film, Newman played a racecar driver who wants to win the Indie500. Although the film itself was uninspiring to audiences, to Newman, he was forever inspired by the sport. He wasn’t satisfied with simply being a fan or enthusiast. He wanted to compete. His first professional race was in 1972. He entered the race under the pseudonym P. L. Newman.

Newman would be a part of racing teams and compete on a vigorous schedule which would often take precedence over his filming schedule. Even in his old age, Newman continued to race and race successfully. He would race until 2008, the year he died.

Later Years

In the 80s and 90s, Newman would take a limited amount of roles. One notable film in 1986 cast Newman to reprise his role from 1961’s The Hustler. The film (The Color of Money) was directed by Martin Scorsese and led Newman to win the Oscar for Best Actor. Newman would also appear in the Coen Brothers film The Hudsucker Proxy in 1995.

In the 21st century, Newman had a few notable roles but his acting career was winding down. His final live-action role was in the 2002 film Road to Perdition alongside Tom Hanks who starred in the film. It was a fitting end to his career with his performance achieving yet another Acadamy Awards nomination. Outside of live-action films, Newman provided the voice for ‘Doc Hudson’ a retired racecar in the Disney Pixar film Cars. His role in that film was perfect for an aging Newman.

Newman’s final performance in any film or television production was a voice-over narration for a Disney nature documentary about meerkats aptly named Meerkats (2008).

The End

Paul Newman died on September 26th, 2008. He had severe lung cancer he had likely acquired from years of heavy smoking (he quit in 1986). He is survived by his wife Joanne and 5 children (Newman has a total of 6 children but his son Scott Newman died of a drug overdose in 1978). Newman’s bright blue eyes shined until the day he died. Perhaps more than any other Hollywood star he lived an iconic life. Finding great success in racing and movies, Newman was different than your average Hollywood actor.

Rest in peace, Mr. Newman. Thank you for the memories.

Jon Shai Van Sickle

Jon Shai Van Sickle is the owner and operator of This Day in Film History. He is a filmmaker as well as a film historian. He currently lives in Utah.

Jon Shai Van Sickle

Jon Shai Van Sickle is the owner and operator of This Day in Film History. He is a filmmaker as well as a film historian. He currently lives in Utah.

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