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Paul Newman

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Biography

In a business where public scandal and bad-boy behavior are the rule rather than the exception, Paul Newman is as much a hero offscreen as on. A blue-eyed matinee idol whose career has successfully spanned five decades, he is also a prominent social activist, a major proponent of actors' creative rights, and a noted philanthropist. Born January 26, 1925, in Cleveland, OH, Newman served in World War II prior to attending Kenyon College on an athletic scholarship; when an injury ended his sports career, he turned to drama, joining a summer stock company in Wisconsin. After relocating to Illinois in 1947, he married actress Jacqueline Witte, and following the death of his father took over the family's sporting-goods store. Newman quickly grew restless, however, and after selling his interest in the store to his brother, he enrolled at the Yale School of Drama. During a break from classes he traveled to New York City where he won a role in the CBS television series The Aldrich Family. A number of other TV performances followed, and in 1952 Newman was accepted by the Actors' Studio, making his Broadway debut a year later in Picnic, where he was spotted by Warner Bros. executives.

Upon Newman's arrival in Hollywood, media buzz tagged him as "the new Brando." However, after making his screen debut in the disastrous epic The Silver Chalice, he became the victim of scathing reviews, although Warners added on another two years to his contract after he returned to Broadway to star in The Desperate Hours. Back in Hollywood, he starred in The Rack. Again reviews were poor, and the picture was quickly pulled from circulation. Newman's third film, the charming Somebody Up There Likes Me, in which he portrayed boxer Rocky Graziano, was both a commercial and critical success, with rave reviews for his performance. His next film of note was 1958's The Long Hot Summer, an acclaimed adaptation of a pair of William Faulkner short stories; among his co-stars was Joanne Woodward, who soon became his second wife. After next appearing as Billy the Kid in Arthur Penn's underrated The Left-Handed Gun, Newman starred opposite Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, scoring his first true box-office smash as well as his first Academy Award nomination.

After appearing with Joanne Woodward in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! -- the couple would frequently team onscreen throughout their careers -- Newman traveled back to Broadway to star in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Upon his return to the West Coast, he bought himself out of his Warner Bros. contract before starring in the 1960 smash From the Terrace. Exodus, another major hit, quickly followed. While by now a major star, the true depths of Newman's acting abilities had yet to be fully explored; that all changed with Robert Rossen's 1961 classic The Hustler, in which he essayed one of his most memorable performances as pool shark "Fast" Eddie Felson, gaining a second Oscar nomination. His third nod came for 1963's Hud, which cast him as an amoral Texas rancher. While a handful of creative and financial disappointments followed, including 1964's The Outrage and 1965's Lady L, 1966's Alfred Hitchcock-helmed Torn Curtain marked a return to form, as did the thriller Harper.

For 1967's superb chain-gang drama Cool Hand Luke, Newman scored a fourth Academy Award nomination, but again went home empty-handed. The following year he made his directorial debut with the Joanne Woodward vehicle Rachel Rachel, scoring Best Director honors from the New York critics as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The couple next appeared onscreen together in 1969's Winning, which cast Newman as a professional auto racer; the motor sport remained a preoccupation in his real life as well, and he was the most prominent of the many celebrities who began racing as a hobby. He then starred with Robert Redford in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which went on to become the highest-grossing Western in movie history. It was followed by 1971's W.U.S.A., a deeply political film reflecting Newman's strong commitment to social activism; in addition to being among Hollywood's most vocal supporters of the civil rights movement, in 1968 he and Woodward made headlines by campaigning full time for Democratic Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.

After directing and starring in 1971's Sometimes a Great Notion, Newman announced the formation of First Artists, a production company co-founded by Barbra Streisand and Steve McQueen. Modeled after the success of United Artists, it was created to offer performers the opportunity to produce their own projects. Newman's first film for First Artists' was 1972's Pocket Money, followed by another directorial effort, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. After a pair of back-to-back efforts under director John Huston, 1972's The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean and the next year's The Mackintosh Man, Newman reunited with Redford in The Sting, another triumph which won the 1973 Best Picture Oscar. He next appeared in the star-studded disaster epic The Towering Inferno, followed by 1975's The Drowning Pool, a sequel to Harper. His next major success was the 1977 sports spoof Slap Shot, which went on to become a cult classic.

A string of disappointments followed, including Robert Altman's self-indulgent 1979 effort Quintet. The 1981 Absence of Malice, however, was a success, and for 1982's courtroom drama The Verdict Newman notched his fifth Best Actor nomination. He finally won the Oscar on his sixth attempt, reprising the role of Eddie Felson in 1986's The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese's sequel to The Hustler. After starring in two 1989 films, Blaze and Fat Man and Little Boy, Newman began appearing onscreen less and less. In 1991, he and Joanne Woodward starred as the titular Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, and three years later he earned yet another Academy Award nomination for his superb performance in Robert Benton's slice-of-life tale Nobody's Fool. His films since then have been fairly sparse and of mixed quality, with Joel Coen's and Ethan Coen's The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) being at the higher end of the spectrum and the Kevin Costner vehicle Message in a Bottle (1999) resting near the bottom. Newman again graced screens in 2000 with Where the Money Is, a comedy that cast him as a famous bank robber who fakes a stroke to get out of prison.

Still, despite his movement away from Hollywood, Newman has remained a prominent public figure through his extensive charitable work; he created the Scott Newman Foundation after the drug-related death of his son and later marketed a series of gourmet foodstuffs under the umbrella name Newman's Own, with all profits going to support his project for children suffering from cancer. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Life Between, The (2003) .... Himself
Road to Perdition (2002) .... John Rooney
Making of 'Road to Perdition', The (2002) (TV) .... Himself
Hustler: The Inside Story, The (2001) (V) (archive footage) .... Himself
AMC Backstory: The Long Hot Summer (2001) (TV) .... Himself
Sladke sanje (2001) (uncredited) (archive footage)
... aka Sweet Dreams (2001)
Directors: Martin Scorsese, The (2000) (V) .... Himself
... aka AFI's the Directors: Martin Scorsese (2000) (V) (USA: complete title)
Elizabeth Taylor: A Musical Celebration (2000) (TV) (uncredited) .... (archive footage)
Elizabeth Taylor: England's Other Elizabeth (2000) (TV) .... (archive footage)
Twister: A Musical Catastrophe (2000) (V) (archive footage) .... Applause
Where the Money Is (2000) .... Henry Manning
... aka Heißer Coup, Ein (2000) (Germany)
Message in a Bottle (1999) .... Dodge Blake
Magic Time for Piotr (1998) (TV) .... Himself
Twilight (1998) .... Harry Ross
Directors: Sydney Pollack, The (1997) (V) .... Himself
Great Romances of the 20th Century: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (1997) (TV) .... (archive footage)
Super Speedway (1997) (voice) .... Narrator
... aka Super Speedway: The Ride (1997)
Kennedy Center Honors, The (1995) (TV) .... Himself
67th Annual Academy Awards, The (1995) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Nobody's Fool (1994) .... Donald 'Sully' Sullivan
"Baseball" (1994) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Himself
Hudsucker Proxy, The (1994) .... Sidney J. Mussburger
... aka Hudsucker - Der große Sprung (1994) (Germany)
Classe américaine, La (1993) (archive footage) .... Dave
... aka Grand détournement, Le (1993) (France)
Kennedy Center Honors, The (1992) (TV) .... Himself (Honoree)
64th Annual Academy Awards, The (1992) (TV) (uncredited) .... Himself
Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros. (1991) (TV) .... Himself (screen test for 'East of Eden')
Miracle on 44th Street: A Portrait of the Actors Studio (1991) (TV) .... Himself
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990) .... Walter Bridge
Blaze (1989) .... Earl Long
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) .... Gen. Leslie R. Groves
... aka Shadow Makers (1989) (UK)
Hollywood Sex Symbols (1988) (V) (archive footage)
John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1988) .... Himself
... aka John Huston (1989) (USA)
Racing Experience, The (1988) (V) .... Himself
Hello Actors Studio (1987) (TV) .... Himself
Color of Money, The (1986) .... Eddie
Harry and Son (1984) .... Harry Keach
Verdict, The (1982) .... Frank Galvin
Come Along with Me (1981) (TV)
Making of 'Absence of Malice', The (1981) (TV) .... Himself
Absence of Malice (1981) .... Michael Colin Gallagher
Fort Apache the Bronx (1981) .... Murphy
When Time Ran Out... (1980) .... Hank Henderson
... aka Day the World Ended, The (1980) (USA: video title)
... aka Earth's Final Fury (1980/II) (USA: TV title)
Quintet (1979) .... Essex
War at Home, The (1979) (archive footage) (uncredited) .... Himself (at 1968 Democratic National Convention)
Salute to American Imagination, A (1978) (TV) .... Himself/Co-Host
All-Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor, An (1977) (TV) .... Himself
Slap Shot (1977) .... Reggie
Silent Movie (1976) .... Himself
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) .... William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody
... aka Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976)
McCarthy: Death of a Witch Hunter (1975) .... Host
... aka Film of the Era of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, A (1975) (USA: subtitle)
Drowning Pool, The (1975) .... Lew Harper
Towering Inferno, The (1974) .... Doug Roberts
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (2002) (TV) (uncredited) (archive footage) .... Himself (1973 BBC interview)
Sting, The (1973) .... Henry Gondorff/Mr. Shaw
Mackintosh Man, The (1973) .... Joseph Rearden
Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The (1972) .... Judge Roy Bean
Pocket Money (1972) .... Jim Kane
Sometimes a Great Notion (1971) .... Hank Stamper
... aka Never Give an Inch (1971) (UK)
Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', The (1970) .... Himself
WUSA (1970) .... Rheinhardt
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) .... Commentator
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) .... Butch Cassidy (Robert Leroy Parker)
Winning (1969) .... Frank Capua
22nd Annual Tony Awards, The (1968) (TV) .... Himself (presenter)
Secret War of Harry Frigg, The (1968) .... Pvt. Harry Frigg
Luke (1967) .... Himself
Cool Hand Luke (1967) .... Lucas 'Cool Hand' (Luke) Jackson
Hombre (1967) .... John Russell
Year Toward Tomorrow, A (1966) .... Narrator
Torn Curtain (1966) .... Professor Michael Armstrong
Harper (1966) .... Lew Harper
... aka Moving Target, The (1966) (UK)
Lady L (1965) .... Armand
Outrage, The (1964) .... Juan Carrasco
What a Way to Go! (1964) .... Larry Flint
Prize, The (1963) .... Andrew Craig
New Kind of Love, A (1963) .... Steve Sherman
Hud (1963) .... Hud Bannon
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) .... Ad Francis
... aka Adventures of a Young Man (1962) (UK)
Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) .... Chance Wayne
Paris Blues (1961) .... Ram Bowen
Hustler, The (1961) .... 'Fast' Eddie Felson
From the Terrace (1960) .... David Alfred Eaton
Exodus (1960) .... Ari Ben Canaan
Young Philadelphians, The (1959) .... Anthony Judson 'Tony' Lawrence/Narrator
... aka City Jungle, The (1959) (UK)
Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958) .... Harry Bannerman
Left Handed Gun, The (1958) .... William 'Billy the Kid' Bonney
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) .... Brick Pollitt
Long, Hot Summer, The (1958) .... Ben Quick
Until They Sail (1957) .... Capt. Jack Harding
Helen Morgan Story, The (1957) .... Larry Maddux
... aka Both Ends of the Candle (1957) (UK)
... aka Why Was I Born? (1957) (USA)
Rack, The (1956) .... Capt. Edward Worthington Hall Jr.
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) .... Rocky Graziano (Rocco Barbella)
Silver Chalice, The (1954) .... Basil
"Aldrich Family, The" (1949) TV Series .... Occasional Cast Mem

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