Paul Newman 1962 Illustration

Paul Newman 1962 Illustration, drawn here on the set of the movie “Hud” in 1962, Claude, Texas age 37.

Paul Newman was an American actor, film director, producer, race car driver, IndyCar owner, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Born in Ohio, Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater. Initially, he enrolled in the Navy V-12 pilot training program at Yale University, but was dropped when his colorblindness was discovered.
He later flew as a turret gunner in an Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, his unit was assigned to the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill along with other replacements shortly before the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945.
A kamikaze attack on the vessel killed a number of service members, including other members of his unit.

After the war, Newman completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1949.
He later attended the Yale School of Drama for one year, before moving to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

In February 1954, Newman appeared in a screen test with James Dean, directed by Gjon Mili, for “East of Eden” (1955). Newman was tested for the role of Aron Trask, Dean for the role of Aron’s twin brother Cal. Dean won his part, but Newman lost out to Richard Davalos.

Newman’s first film for Hollywood was The Silver Chalice (1954). In 1956, Newman garnered much attention and acclaim for the role of Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me”. In 1958, he starred in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958), opposite Elizabeth Taylor.
He followed up with leads in “Exodus” (1960), “From the Terrace”, (1960), “The Hustler” (1961), “Hud” (1963), “Torn Curtain” (1966), “Harper” (1966), “Hombre” (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “The Sting” (1973), “The Towering Inferno” (1974), “Slap Shot” (1977), “Absence of Malice” (1981), “The Verdict” (1982) and “The Sting” (1973).

Twenty-five years after The Hustler, Newman reprised his role of “Fast Eddie” Felson in the Martin Scorsese–directed film “The Color of Money” (1986), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
In 1994 Newman played alongside Tim Robbins as the character “Sidney J. Mussburger” in the Coen Brothers comedy “The Hudsucker Proxy”.

Newman’s last movie appearance was as a conflicted mob boss in the 2002 film “Road to Perdition” opposite Tom Hanks, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In June 2008, it was widely reported in the press that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment for the condition at the Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York City.
Newman died on the morning of September 26, 2008, in the company of his family. He was 83 years old. His body was cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport.