Paul Newman Passed Away at 83

Hollywood is grieving for the loss of a legend, Paul Newman.

Announced Saturday, the actor -who’s famous for his intense blue eyes- died at 83 years old surrounded by his family and close friends at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut. A statement from publicist Jeff Sanderson said that the screen hero who has been in the business for more than half a century succumbed Friday after a long battle with cancer.

Newman had appeared in more than 80 films and TV productions. He was nominated for Oscars ten times, in which his first Oscar nomination was in 1959 for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, and his most recent was in 2003 for “Road to Perdition”. Newman acted as the sexy stranger in his Broadway debut in 1953, “Picnic”, that led to a Warner Bros. Hollywood contract and his first movie – the 1954 toga epic The Silver Chalice, which even he considered one of the worst movies ever made.

In 1949, Newman got married for the first time to wife Jackie Witte and blessed with a son, Scott, and two daughters; Susan and Stephanie. But the marriage didn’t last that long, the couple divorced in 1957. Not wanting to be alone too long, the following year Newman married actress Joanne Woodward, with whom he eventually had another three daughters. Newman and Woodward had a 50-year wonderful marriage, until his death.

By the ’60s Newman has starred in several movies with such career-defining roles as the leads in “The Hustler”, “Hud” and “Cool Hand Luke”, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, followed by “The Sting”, which made him and screen partner Robert Redford the hottest male stars of the ’70s. Newman won an Oscar for “The Color of Money”, in 1987.

Besides an outstanding actor, Newman’s heart hasn’t been in the acting field only, he was also very active in many philanthropic acts. He and his wife Woodward had established Newman’s Own, which since 1982 has made popcorn, spaghetti sauce, lemonade and salad dressing and has donated more than $250 million to charities selected by Newman himself. He was also involved deeply in the world of car racing, having won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing and his race teams won several championships in open wheel IndyCar racing.

Newman announced his retirement from acting in 2007, saying, “I’m not able to work anymore … at the level that I would want to. You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention”. He was the voice of Doc Hudson in the 2006 animated movie “Cars”, it was one of his final roles. After his retirement from acting, Newman remained active in his charity work (in 2007, he donated $10 million to Kenyon College) and his food business, and even started theater directing for the first time.

His son, Scott Newman, died following an accidental drug overdose in 1978. To remember his one and only son, Paul Newman instituted the Scott Newman Center for drug abuse prevention. Newman had eight grandchildren, all by his five daughters.

A sad loss indeed, but may his spirit and generous heart stay alive in those who were left behind. We’ll be missing you, Paul Newman.

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