Paul Newman

Background

Paul Newman was born on January 26, 1925. He was the son of Artur Newman and Theresa Fetzer. He was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He is of Slovak ancestry on his mother’s side and Polish on his father’s side, who was a Jewish American. He attended Malvern School, Woodbury Junior High School, and Shaker Heights High School. After graduating, he joined the V-12 Navy program to become a pilot but was disqualified for being colorblind. He was then sent off to basic training, after which he served for two years, even avoiding an attack on his unit in Okinawa by sheer coincidence. He entered Kenyon College after the war. He was then able to join the football team and graduate with a degree in drama and economics. He entered Yale and studied Performing Arts, too. He was a listener at the Actor’s Studio for a decade, learning the Stanislavski method.

Although his first years as a professional actor were not easy, Newman managed to get a role in 1954 in “The Silver Chalice” by Victor Saville. However, he made his breakthrough two years later in “Somebody Up There Likes Me” (1956). That same year he starred with Billy Wilder in “Stalag 17.” After that, he began to work with actresses Ann Blyth, Joan Fontaine, Walter Pidgeon, and Sal Mineo. In 1958, he made it big when he made “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with the majestic Elizabeth Taylor, adapting a play by Tennessee Williams. Later, he played Billy the Kid in “The Left Handed Gun” and was the main character in the Southern drama “The Long, Hot Summer” based on the work of William Faulkner. He also worked with Orson Welles, Angela Lansbury, Leo McCarey, Joanne Woodward, and Lee Remick in this decade.

In the 1960s, Newman starred in “Exodus” by Otto Preminger. In 1962, he returned to adapt a play by Tennessee Williams: “Sweet Bird of Youth.” In 1966, he made one of the most influential films of his career: “Harper,” reinventing a genre and becoming one of the highest-grossing films of that year. Newman also made his only collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock: “Torn Curtain.” He also participated in one of the best Westerns in film history: “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” directed by George Roy Hill. This was his first time working with Robert Redford.

In the ’70s and ’80s, Newman ventured into directing films. He also worked with Steve McQueen, Robert Altman, and Sidney Lumet. Finally, in 1986, he appeared in one of the most influential movies of his career: “The Color of Money,” directed by Martin Scorsese. Newman’s career continued into the 2000s until his death at his home in 2008. By then, he was suffering from lung cancer due to long-term cigarette smoking. Until now, his name remains one of the most revered in acting, and his legacy will live on forever.