SAGWatch – Observing the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

 

We’re saddened to tell you that Paul Newman has passed away at age 83.  The New York Times described Newman as “a likable renegade, a strikingly handsome figure of animal high spirits and blue-eyed candor whose magnetism was almost impossible to resist, whether the character was Hud, Cool Hand Luke or Butch Cassidy.” 

He got his break from a tragedy, the death of James Dean. In 1956, Dean had been cast as boxer Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me.”  Newman became the second choice, and his portrayal rocketed him to stardom. His last film on camera was “Road to Perdition” in 2002; two years ago he was the voice of the old champion race car “Doc” in the animated feature “Cars,” capping a six-decade long run on the big screen.

Almost by accident Newman became a philanthropist. In 1982 he decided to bottle and sell some of the salad dressing he’d made for friends. The result was Newman’s Own, a brand that expanded to everything from popcorn to spaghetti sauce, and which has donated all of its profits, estimated at $200 million, to charity.

Despite his great and obvious talent, Newman retained a bit of the actor’s insecurity, famously telling an interviewer that his epitaph could one day be, “Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown.”

Newman had battled with cancer, and, sadly, today his family announced that the battle is over.