Paul Leonard Newman

Paul Leonard Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. He was the son of Theresa and Arthur Sigmund Newman. His father was Jewish and his mother was a practicing Christian Scientist of Slovak decent. He acted in grade and high school plays. He was dropped from Ohio University for unruly behavior. He served for three years in the Navy during World War II as a radio operator and graduated from Ohio's Kenyon College. He married to Jackie and had his first child, Scott. His father died in 1950. He brought his wife Jackie back to Shaker Heights and ran his father's store for a short time. After that he moved with Jackie and Scott to New Haven, Connecticut, where he attended Yale University's School of Drama. He was doing a play there, when two agents invited him to come to New York City to pursue a career as a professional actor. He moved to New York, and acted in guest spots for various television shows. In 1953, he played the lead role in the successful Broadway play Picnic. There he met actress Joanne Woodward, who was also also a part of the play. They married and his second child Susan was born that year. In 1954, he appeared in "The Silver Chalice". He considered his performance to be so bad that he took out an ad in a trade paper apologizing for it to anyone who might have seen it. He immediately returned to the stage and performed in The Desperate Hours. In 1956, he appeared in the film by portraying boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and critics praised his performance. In 1957, he was cast in The Long, Hot Summer (1958), co-starring Joanne Woodward. After Jackie gave him a divorce, he and Joanne married in Las Vegas in January, 1958. They went on to have three daughters together and raised them in Westport, Connecticut. In 1959, he received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). The 1960s earned him superstar status, as he became one of the most popular actors of the decade, and got three more Best Actor Oscar nominations, for The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963) and Cool Hand Luke (1967). In 1968, his directorial debut Rachel was given good marks and the film and Joanne Woodward were nominated for Oscars but he was not nominated for Best Director. He did, however, win a Golden Globe for his direction. Throughout the 1970s, he had hits films such as The Sting (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974) to lesser known films as The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) to a now cult classic Slap Shot (1977). After the death of his only son, Scott in 1978, his personal life and film choices moved in a different direction. He appeared in The Verdict (1982) for which he received his 6th Best Actor Oscar nomination and in 1987 finally received his first Oscar for The Color of Money (1986). He became co-owner of Newman-Haas racing in 1982, and also founded "Newman's Own", that has earned in excess of $100 million, every penny of which Newman donated to charity. He also started The Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, an organization for terminally ill children. He enjoyed a 50-year marriage to Joanne. During his later years, he still attended races, much involved in charitable organizations. In 2006, he started a restaurant called Dressing Room, a place that he took great pride in. In 2007, he made some headlines when he said that he was losing his invention and confidence in his acting abilities and that acting is "pretty much a closed book for me". He died on September 26, 2008 in Westport, Connecticut, U.S.