Paul Newman

Paul Newman  1925 – 2008   

   

The world has lost an old friend, and I feel that I have lost one too.  

Paul Newman died last weeked at the age of 83.  As one of the staple stars in my home’s film pantry, we would see him on our Grandma’s TV at least once a month.  We grew up on The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and once in a while we’d even catch poorly edited TV versions of Slapshot and The Verdict, although we really didn’t understand all the dialogue until our teens.  It was then we were exposed to Hud and The Hustler, and saw the stark differences between the “innocent” image of the 50’s and early 60’s, and what people were really reading and thinking at the time.

He loved the stage, but started appearing on various TV shows in the early 50’s.  His versatility and drop-dead gorgeous looks led him to roles from dramas to science fiction.  It was this combination and constant commitment to his work that made him one of the few to make the leap from TV to movies.  His bankability eventually gave him an opportunity to direct pieces such as The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds  and The Glass Menagerie.  He also produced some of his own pictures, including The Road to Perdition and Butch Cassidy.

He became an even greater friend to thousands of children who benefit from the services of Camp Hole in the Wall, a place where kids in cancer treatment can play baseball, ride a horse and do everything else “normal” kids do.  You can help them by purchasing Newman’s Own products, where the proceeds will continue to fund the camp and assist the kids as needed.  (My personal fave is Sockarooni sauce!)

He passed on at his home while his wife, Joanne Woodward and his family surrounded him with loved.  He was truly blessed indeed.  We are also blessed, for the world was better because he was in it.

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