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Newman Is Gone
Awards Daily's Sasha Stone was the first to post a report of Paul Newman's death last night, but the source seemed a wee bit dicey and I decided to wait until this morning. But just to run it down I called Newman's biographer-in-progress Shawn Levy -- he was uncertain also. And very sleepy. (And so was I.)
Now the news is confirmed. Frank Galvin, Hud Bannon, Henry Gondorff, Cool Hand Luke, Rocky Graziano, Butch Cassidy, Reggie Dunlop, Lew Harper and Eddie Felson have left the room for good. We've all known it was coming for months, but there's something about the finality or, as Bob Dylan once put it, the honesty of death that seeps right into your bloodstream at times, depending on how well you knew the departed and how much you cared and valued his or her presence.
I was very closely acquainted with Paul Newman. He was kin. I felt I knew him as well if not better than my own blood. I knew and cared for him as much as I knew and cared for John Lennon, Cary Grant and the 1950-to-1972 version of Marlon Brando.
The passing of someone close always brings shock and hurt, regardless of forewarning. It's also scary and sad but there's no stopping it and we're all gonna get there -- no exceptions. But a life well lived is its own reward, day by day, and not just for the captain of that life but everyone he/she comes into contact with along the way.
All hail the heart and mind that went into the creation of Newman's Own. And to the spirit behind Newman's winning lead performance as the bruised but good-natured Reggie in George Roy Hill's Slap Shot -- perhaps my favorite Newman guy of all.
To quote from Aljean Harmetz's obit in the N.Y. Times, which quotes Pauline Kael: "When a role is right for him, he's peerless. Newman is most comfortable in a role when it isn't scaled heroically; even when he plays a bastard, he's not a big bastard -- only a callow, selfish one, like Hud. He can play what he's not -- a dumb lout. But you don't believe it when he plays someone perverse or vicious, and the older he gets and the better you know him, the less you believe it.
"His likableness is infectious; nobody should ever be asked not to like Paul Newman."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 27, 2008 at 8:30 AM
comment #1
Nick Carroway
says ...
Long live, Paul Newman. We thank you, we thank you, we thank you. RIP...
Posted by Nick Carroway
at September 27, 2008 8:43 AM
comment #2
berg
says ...
I can't swim.
You crazy ... the fall will probably kill you.
Posted by berg
at September 27, 2008 8:43 AM
comment #3
Miss Daisy
says ...
Here's to one of a kind. They broke the mold. All hail the one and the only Paul Newman.
Posted by Miss Daisy
at September 27, 2008 8:46 AM
comment #4
George Prager
says ...
He was awesome.
Here's a pretty good tribute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaYQkHgHwyQ
Posted by George Prager
at September 27, 2008 8:50 AM
comment #5
Pinko Punko
says ...
He was one of a kind in the best, greatest way.
Posted by Pinko Punko
at September 27, 2008 9:11 AM
comment #6
MartinBlank
says ...
We'll not see his like again.
Posted by MartinBlank
at September 27, 2008 9:15 AM
comment #7
agrayesq
says ...
All this man did was make me fall in love with the movies when, at the age of eight, I watched "Cool Hand Luke" for the first time on WGN late night. I was mesmerized. My love for Newman was solidified the day my father brought home this new-fangled contraption called a VTR in 1978, along with a bootleg copy of "Slap Shot". I must have watched that movie fifty times in the first couple of months.
Tim "Dr, Hook" McCracken : "Dunlop!!?...You suck cock!"
Reggie Dunlop(with a schrug): "All I can get."
Posted by agrayesq
at September 27, 2008 9:46 AM
comment #8
Rev. Slappy
says ...
Mr. Newman was a class act all the way. In these dicey economic times brought on by epic levels of greed it's kind of astounding to see a guy like Paul Newman give away over $175 million to charity. I am an actor and Mr. Newman is an icon to me, at a time when the word "icon" is grossly overused. He was a dedicated artist and a compassionate human being.
Posted by Rev. Slappy
at September 27, 2008 9:49 AM
comment #9
p.Vice
says ...
Boy, I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals.
Truer words were never spoken.
Posted by p.Vice
at September 27, 2008 9:50 AM
comment #10
AH
says ...
Newman = Class.
In an increasingly classless world, his superiority becomes more and more apparent every day.
Posted by AH
at September 27, 2008 9:57 AM
comment #11
Kristopher Tapley
says ...
Ultimately true or not, I can't believe she posted that with such a shaky source. Mind-boggling.
Anyway, here's my tribute:
http://www.incontention.com/?p=1348
Posted by Kristopher Tapley
at September 27, 2008 10:09 AM
comment #12
Hallick
says ...
It's heartbreaking that there are in fact one or two generations right now that don't really know who Paul Newman is or what he's done beyond maybe, frighteningly, his salad dressings. If even that. Outside of specialty channels like TCM, where would anybody relatively new to the world really be able to stumble into his body of work? The place I found a lot of it (TBS, TNT, AMC, local independent stations, WGN, etc) aren't the same places they used to be. AMC might still show Cool Hand Luke once in a while, but that's won't be for long.
Even a relatively recent generation of actor, like River Phoenix, can pretty much disappear completely from the world's stage. Other than Stand By Me, what's he got out there in the mainstream media to keep HIS memory alive? Do Running On Empty or My Own Private Idaho or Dogfight get shown anywhere outside of pay channels?
Posted by Hallick
at September 27, 2008 10:34 AM
comment #13
dangovich
says ...
Sad new.
What a great face and voice, and always with the twinkle in his eye.
Who else can say they worked with Hitchcock and the Coen Brothers?
Ah well, he got 83 mostly great years and left behind such a legacy.
RIP.
Posted by dangovich
at September 27, 2008 10:34 AM
comment #14
Tom Logan
says ...
Not to beat around the bush,he was the dogs bollocks,he was one of those guys who i thought(wished) would defy biology and be immortal.
Paul Newman had charm up the wazoo,an actor whose expressions on screen i would unconciously mimic whilst watching,he had me that involved in his performances.He really is a legend and for once a human being that deserves every bit of praise that will be directed his way once the media latch onto this terribly sad news.
His "Judge Roy Bean" is one of my favourite performances.
Posted by Tom Logan
at September 27, 2008 11:04 AM
comment #15
Aladdin Sane
says ...
"What is the victory of the cat on a hot tin roof?"
That was the last Newman film I watched a few months ago on TCM. Man he's amazing. Godspeed Mr. Newman. You will be missed.
Posted by Aladdin Sane
at September 27, 2008 11:23 AM
comment #16
Rev. Slappy
says ...
I just read another obit that places the Newman's Own charitable contributions at $250 million. This is staggering generosity.
Posted by Rev. Slappy
at September 27, 2008 11:24 AM
comment #17
shawn
says ...
On top of that quarter-billion that has already been handed out -- and by handed, I mean that Newman oversaw every dollar Newman's Own donated -- the man gave his stake in the company, valued at $119 million, to charity.
So the real number via Newman's Own is closer to $400 million.
And that's not to mention the literal millions of his own personal fortune he gave away over the years.
An awesome, humbling achievement, and done quietly, with dignity and no little sense of humor.
Posted by shawn
at September 27, 2008 11:31 AM
comment #18
dixiedugan
says ...
May flights of angels sing him to his rest...
Posted by dixiedugan
at September 27, 2008 11:39 AM
comment #19
frankbooth
says ...
I think that one of the reasons we remember him so fondly is that he remained dignified and didn't crap all over his legacy the way certain actors who came along in the Sixties and Seventies have. He also avoided becoming a walking sleeping pill like Redford. No one has a perfect track record, but I don't remember there ever being a point at which I said "Newman's in it? Skip it."
That might seem like faint praise, but it's not. It's a very rare thing.
Now I'd better get my ass to Virgin to grab that ten dollar DVD of The Verdict I decided against the other day.
Posted by frankbooth
at September 27, 2008 11:47 AM
comment #20
Chicago48
says ...
They don't make them like him anymore; just like they don't make movies he starred in anymore.
Posted by Chicago48
at September 27, 2008 12:30 PM
comment #21
Amazing Larry
says ...
Yeah, his track record may not be perfect, but I'm looking through his movies and really don't see anything that could be called embarrassing (hey, I love THE TOWERING INFERNO!). The man could pick 'em: THE STING, THE VERDICT, TORN CURTAIN, THE HUSTLER, BUTCH, HARPER, BEAN, LUKE.... wow.
So long, Mr. Newman. We'll miss you.
Posted by Amazing Larry
at September 27, 2008 3:43 PM
comment #22
Deathtongue_Groupie
says ...
If ever an artist deserved for the nation to lower every flag to half-staff in well-earned remembrance, then they should come down for Paul Leonard Newman.
No 19 on Nixon's enemies list, we have lost a liberal who makes you proud to call yourself one.
Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie
at September 27, 2008 4:37 PM
comment #23
rr3333
says ...
Just saw a clip of 'Road to Perdition'. The man HAD IT till the very end.
On top of it, all that money he raised for charity makes his legacy even more special.
Posted by rr3333
at September 27, 2008 6:59 PM
comment #24
Pinko Punko
says ...
E-weekly has a nice walk through on many of his roles. I was happy to see they agree with me on his stunning performance in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge-
http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20205803_23,00.html
The film is quite underrated and Joanne Woodward is awesome.
Posted by Pinko Punko
at September 27, 2008 9:55 PM
comment #25
Michael
says ...
He was a saint. Always a joy to watch on screen, and the charity...my god.
Posted by Michael
at September 28, 2008 8:47 AM
comment #26
moviemaniac2002
says ...
Sad, sad, sad. Who among today's young actors
will ever have a career like his? Even the ones
with genuine talent can't replicate his career.......they can only choose between
bloated corporate tentpoles and sour, unwatchable indies directed by vidiots who
barely know which end of an HD camera to
point at the actors.
I'm missing him already.
Posted by moviemaniac2002
at September 28, 2008 9:08 PM
comment #27
hcat
says ...
Unlike many actors who are replacable by the next generation (is there anything that Redford did that Damon couldn't do today with the same gravity and style?) there is no heir apparent to Newman. Ed Harris could maybe do the verdict, Bruce Willis could do Towering Inferno, Clooney could to Butch Cassidy but no one could do them all or as well as Newman.
It seems since the beginning there has always been a disconnect between the finest actors and the biggest movie stars. He was the embodiement of both.
Posted by hcat
at September 29, 2008 12:01 PM
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