Academy award winner Paul Newman, one of American cinema’s most iconic actors, died Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.
One of Hollywood’s coolest customers, Newman shot to fame in the 1960s, with his classic good looks and a propensity for roles that required a streak of hip anti-authority. He starred in a number of classic films, including Cool Hand Luke (100 percent on the Tomatometer), Harper (100 percent), The Hustler (97 percent), The Verdict (96 percent), The Sting (93 percent), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (92 percent), and The Color of Money, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor.
Born in Shaker Heights, OH, Newman served in World War II in the Pacific. After the war, he turned to acting, attending Yale and studying under Lee Stasbourg in the Actor’s Studio in New York. He made his big screen debut in The Silver Chalice (20 percent), a forgettable Biblical epic, but soon made his name in Somebody Up There Likes Me (78 percent) and the Tennessee Williams adaptation Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (100 percent), which co-starred Elizabeth Taylor.
Newman continued to give excellent performances into his August years; he starred alongside Tom Hanks in 2002’s The Road to Perdition (82 percent) and the made-for-cable series Empire Falls, for which he was honored with an Emmy and a Golden Globe. In his last credits, Newman provided the voice of an aging motor sports champion in Pixar’s Cars (75 percent) and narrated The Price of Sugar (75 percent), a documentary on poverty in the Dominican Republic.
In addition to his work in film, Newman was known for his philanthropy. Newman’s Own, a company he co-founded in 1982, produced lemonade, pasta sauces, salad dressings, and salsas, among other products, donates 100 percent of its profits to charitable causes.
Newman is survived by his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, as well as five children and eight grandchildren.
