Saturday, September 27, 2008

Paul Newman (1925-2008)


Great star, great man, great actor Paul Newman died yesterday of cancer [src]. Our hearts go out to his wife Joanne Woodward. The Oscar winners had been married for fifty years -- they married just a few months before their first film together The Long Hot Summer arrived in theaters. Newman will live on forever in the movies. What an inarguably rich filmography he's left the audiences who loved him.

My personal favorite of his performances, and one I hope you'll watch to bid him farewell is Hud (1963). That indelible title role won him the third of his nine Oscar nominations for acting. I also must highly recommend his underdiscussed (at least nowadays) directorial debut Rachel, Rachel (1968). That collaboration won Joanne Woodward the second of her four Best Actress nod and Newman a Best Picture nomination (though not a directing nod). I was startled at how modern it felt while I was watching it. It's aged well just as the actor did. He will be missed.
*

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so sad. Great actor / great man. Devastating news. Tough to pick, but my favorite Newman film I think was "Hud."

John T said...

The greatest of the great. Paul Newman is one of the finest movie stars to ever grace the silver screen-he will be greatly missed.

Glenn Dunks said...

Such a sad loss (just imagine if his Cat on a Hot Tin Roof co-star Liz Taylor also passed!) and he will hopefully be remembered for the absolutely great that he was.

I was actually quite encouraged, for a chance, by the comments at Just Jared as the people who can seemingly only express a sentence if it's about somebody from The Hills expressed legitimate sadness at his passing.

He's a classic and was so to the very end. RIP to the great man.

Anonymous said...

R.I.P. Paul he had a great career.






~M~

Ellen said...

I'm so sad, broken-hearted actually, that Paul Newman has died. What a great body of work, clearly what a vast heart he had. It feels like he's the first of the truly gifted actors, with whom I grew up, to pass. The personalities he crafted, especially Butch Cassidy and Cool Hand Luke, are part of my identity as a film lover.

Sally Belle said...

A great actor and humanitarian.

Rest in peace.

Anonymous said...

He helped define American masculinity as something to work towards: kind, strong, charitable, intelligent. There's no denying the breadth of his work. A spokesperson for his company said the following

"Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all."

What else can you say?

Anonymous said...

such a great actor. such an awesome guy. favorite performance would either be the hustler or cool hand luke.

-charlie

Anonymous said...

Great, great loss. One of the most important Actor of movie history and a true american legend.
My favorite perf of his is THE HUSTLER...btw one of the greatest Academy's mistake...
r.i.p Amazing Paul

mirko s.

Danielhardy23@gmail.com said...

5 favorite Newman movies:

The hustler
cool hand luke
butch cassidy and the sundance kid
the verdict
hud

What a legend. What a life. Set the bar as an actor, a star, and a human being. Rock on.

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

I can't get sad. Paul Newman was a good man in life as much as an actor that the only thing I can say is: "Okay. Goodbye Paul. We'll see you later if not at the movies."


And fittingly my most vivid memory of him is this little exchange:

Paul Newman: "Baby!"
Geraldine Page: "Ha!"

Sweet Bird of Youth. His last movie that I saw.

Anonymous said...

Aww man, I am heart - broken and devastated. He was amazing. I can´t believe he is gone now. He was such a brilliant, brillant actor *sniffs* and so charismatic and soo good looking (inappropriate to say it now, but he was a hottie) and his eyes *dreams*.

RIP Paul

Anonymous said...

A great man!
I feel very sad that he has died but the world was a better place because of him.

Anonymous said...

Very sad. But there are just too many great performances and movies to choose just one. And I hope that when your Best Pictures From the Outside In series hits The Sting you won't be too harsh. It didn't derserve to win, I'll grant you, and it pays little to no attention to the women but it's such an entertaining movie - one of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

Paul, dear Paul, cool hand Paul... When you raise heaven, please, give my best wishes to Ava Gardner and Frank Sintara, and then, all of U make a film in Heavenwood!!! And wait for us in theaters!!!

Chris Na Taraja said...

The Sting is one of my favorite movies, though I know he did many other great films.

I was so glad to see him again when he did Road to Perdition.

And that's not even mentioning his sauce and cookies. He will be missed.

I'm sure that they will be able to fit him into the memorial thing at the Oscars, or do you think they'll do a Bread Renfro

Anonymous said...

i last saw him in abscence of malice and the verdict for my oscars project and must say not only was he great in both oscar winning in the verdict imo but charismatic and handsome.

a proper movie star and legend.

Dr. Stan Glick said...

Always sad when a great actor and a wonderful human being leaves the scene for the final time. Though his work will live on for years anbd years.
Seeing you mention Hud reminded me that it was one of his "H" trilogy movies: Hud, Harper, and Hombre. All were very enjoyable, though Hud was most certainly the best of the three.