Paul Newman

I was saddened to hear yesterday, when we returned from town, that Paul Newman had passed away. Although I knew he had cancer, it still made me pause when I heard it on the news. A wonderful man.

When I was a kid, I used to spend a portion of Sunday afternoons watching movies from decades past which just fed my imagination. I was probably the only kid in my fourth grade class who could rattle off the names of movie idols of the 40s, 50s, and 60s like I was talking about the latest teen idol. :-) I adored the musicals especially. I just loved it all.

I watched many Paul Newman movies over the years. He was one of my favorites. He was at his beautiful best, I think, in “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” in 1958. He played so many great roles in his lifetime. However, I think that my favorite is a film that he did with my other childhood crush, Sidney Poitier, called “Paris Blues” in 1961. I saw this movie for the first time when I was a young girl and still to this day, it is one of my favorites. Newman and Poitier play expat jazz musicians living in Paris. The movie also stars Newman’s real life wife, Joanne Woodward as his love interest, and Diahann Carroll as Poitier’s love interest. The movie just has a great swanky feel to it.

Paul Newman will be remembered forever, by those who love his work, whenever we see “The Sting” or “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or the many other films he starred in.

Besides his acting, I will also fondly remember him for his "Newman’s Own" food products. He gave all of the proceeds from his products to charity. I heard him say in a quote that he had been so lucky in his life, and some others didn’t have that luck, so he felt that it was up to those who have been lucky to help out those who weren’t so lucky. What a great legacy he leaves behind.