Paul Newman Exits Stage

I found this sad. Paul ,deserve the label icon. He was a brilliant man, not just for his acting but in his personal life. He brought a new approach to charity fundraising, mocked at first but now copied by many. I and I am sure everyone of us on this board wish him a long and happy retirement, but we'll miss him.

Here's a news article:-

Paul Newman Exits Stage Right
by Natalie Finn

From here on out, Paul Newman will just be known as the salad dressing guy.

The Oscar-winning actor, who turned 82 in January, said during an interview on Good Morning America Thursday that, after 50 years in front of the camera, he's calling it a career.

"I'm not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to," Newman, who won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer in 1957, told GMA. "You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that's pretty much a closed book for me…I've been doing it for 50 years. That's enough."

While the announcement should come as a disappointment for Newman fans everywhere, the iconic performer from Shaker Heights, Ohio, is going out on top, having just picked up an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award last year for his supporting role as Ed Harris' eccentric coot of a father in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls.

And it sure didn't look as if Newman had lost much of his va-va-va-voom when he hopped into a go-kart and trounced Jay Leno in a mini drag race through NBC Studios last year—and triumphed in the rematch, as well.

But the blue-eyed '60s (and '70s and '80s)-era sex symbol isn't packing his celebrity in for good, but rather just redirecting his energies elsewhere.

Newman says that he's planning to focus on the Dressing Room, the organic restaurant he opened in Westport, Connecticut, to help support local and regional farmers by utilizing homegrown ingredients and sponsoring a weekly farmers market, and on his Hole in the Wall Gang no-fee camps for children with life-threatening illnesses.

The race car enthusiast, entrepreneur and philanthropist is also the founder of the Newman's Own brand of salad dressings, pasta sauces, salsas and popcorn, which has raised more than $200 million for charity—including the seed money to start Hole in the Wall Gang—since its inception.

Newman, star of such classic silver-screen fare as Cool Hand Luke, Hud, The Hustler, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Long Hot Summer, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Exodus, Absence of Malice and The Verdict, is a 10-time Academy Award nominee.

A year after he received an honorary lifetime achievement award in 1986, he finally pocketed a Best Actor win for The Color of Money, in which he reprised his Hustler role as Fast Eddie Felson.

He has also been nominated twice since, for Best Actor for Nobody's Fool in 1995 and for his supporting turn in 2002's Road to Perdition, and was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.

Newman has been husband to fellow Oscar winner Joanne Woodward, with whom he has three daughters, for 49 years. The actor also had three children from a previous marriage, but son Scott Newman passed away in 1978.

That's just one more of the great ones we are losing. Who today could possibly take his place? It's a shame. We have quantity, but where's the quality?

Truly a Hollywood icon.

Newman acted superbly in so many different movies that it is really hard to pick a favorite.

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
The Hustler
The Long Hot Summer
Cool Hand Luke
Sweet Bird Of Youth
The Sting
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid
Slapshot


...and so many more.

But my favorite, along with 'The Sting' and 'Cool Hand Luke' is his portrayal of Rocky Graziano in 'Somebody Up There Likes Me.'

A real class guy.

Mine, too, of all the truly terrific roles he played. A "B" movie made memorable by Newman (and by Sal Mineo, in one of his best roles). And don't forget Harold J. Stone, Eternal Bad Guy and veteran of many TV series (including "Untouchables" episodes). Plus, Everett Sloane, Eternal Little Jewish Guy.

Don't forget that it was the first pairing of Newman with Steve McQueen, too.

Newman and wife Joanne Woodward are the closest this country has to (acting) royalty. Newman's acting ability is without peer and the length of his career (six decades) is enough to assure his place in screen history.

I'd rate his 10 year stretch from 1958 through 1967 (and the roles he portrayed) as the best in cinema history! (from "The Long Hot Summer" through "Cool Hand Luke").

Another notable Newman/McQueen pairing, The Towering Inferno.

My two all time faves are The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. It's sad to know they'll never be another Newman/Redford movie.

Not to mention that he is one of the sexiest men alive.

Lets keep this about Paul Newman, I don't want to steal his spotlight

As SC would say:

I mean, What was I thinking, BoyToy? It's only because Paul Newman has those blue eyes.

He made so many great movies and was so popular back in the day. Among my favorites, already mentioned:

Cool Hand Luke
Long Hot Summer
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof
Butch Cassidy

And, probably so many others that I can't think of right now. Kudos to him for managing to stay married, which is hard enough for the average person, but for a celebrity couple practically unheard of.

Plus, with those sexy blues, he was sooooo hot!!! And, still looks good.

TIS

He's worked with some great directors: Scorsese (The Color of Money), Hitchcock (Torn Curtain), the Coens (Hudsucker Proxy), Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition).

Interestingly, IMDb lists that he's performed musical numbers for the scores of three films: Perdition, Cool Hand Luke, Hud.

I've not seen Hud, have Butch Cassidy back home ready to watch, and want to see The Sting.

My favourite performance, or film, is probably The Hustler, followed closely by Cool Hand Luke.

I think in the hotness department it's a virtual dead heat between Paul and Clark Gable.

I always thought that in addition to being a great actor, he was a wonderful person. TIS alluded to his devoted marriage, and his food line, I believe, benefits worthy causes.

You've got some great viewing to look forward to, Mick! "Hud" is, if possible, even more intensely American verismo than "The Hustler"--a brilliant film with outstanding performance all around. "Butch Casside" and "The Sting" personify the entertainment value of "star power." I'd vote for "The Sting" as the most entertaining film ever. "Sting" also has standout performances by two immortals: Robert Shaw and Charles Durning.

Oh yeah? I know how much you love Durning.

And yeah, I can imagine Butch and Sting being primarily star vehicles. If it weren't for Newman and Redford, those films wouldn't, I imagine, have been as popular or successful as they were and are - and they wouldn't appeal to me so much either.

But Hud interests me greatly.