I was 12 when I fell in love with him. It was Saturday and I was curled up in front of the TV waiting for the weekly Saturday night cinema movie to begin. Every Saturday the PTV showed old Hollywood movies and I wanted to watch every single one of them. It is through this medium that my initial love of movies started and it was here that I first saw acting legends like Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart and my absolute favorite Sydney Poitier. Actors of today great they may be but cannot compare to the likes of Gregory Peck and James Stewart and silicon goddesses of this era hold no light to the beauty and class of Audrey Hepburn, Katherine Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Ingrid Bergman.
I was truly charmed but that night I saw the one I would love the most, forever. The movie that night, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the star - Paul Newman. OK to be fair, the movie was heavily edited (all that passion between Liz and Paul) and made the story a little too complex for me to follow. Nonetheless I was hooked. In the years that followed I watched the beautiful blue eyed face in cinematic masterpieces like Somebody up there likes me, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, Color of money and then later on a bottle of a Marinara Sauce. I truly loved and admired him. Everything about him was in contradiction with what Hollywood stands for and that makes him special. He came so close to the beautiful, make believe world of glitz and glamor and didn't get lost in it. He chose to live in a farm house in Connecticut close to his family. His business "Newman's Own" established a policy that all proceeds from the sale of products, after taxes, would be donated to charity. As of early 2006, the franchise has resulted in excess of $200 million in donations (I love their products). And unlike most celebrities, his good work and political activism was not bragged about and publicized. He loved car racing, owned a racing car league or whatever they call it, and raced himself. He was stylish and had great taste but was never excessive. He was married to his true soulmate for 50 years til death parted them last month Sep 26th 2008. A long life, most of which was spent for the good of the less fortunate ended due to a lost battle with cancer. His legacy will live on through Newman's own and his daughters. He is probably the only Hollywood star that I cried for when I heard of his passing. He was a man of great character with the most gorgeous eyes ever. RIP Bucth Cassidy, you will be missed.
Fav quote: When asked about infidelity, he quipped, "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?"
Once speculated his epitaph would read “here lies Paul Newman who died a failure because his eyes turned brown”
I was truly charmed but that night I saw the one I would love the most, forever. The movie that night, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and the star - Paul Newman. OK to be fair, the movie was heavily edited (all that passion between Liz and Paul) and made the story a little too complex for me to follow. Nonetheless I was hooked. In the years that followed I watched the beautiful blue eyed face in cinematic masterpieces like Somebody up there likes me, The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid, Color of money and then later on a bottle of a Marinara Sauce. I truly loved and admired him. Everything about him was in contradiction with what Hollywood stands for and that makes him special. He came so close to the beautiful, make believe world of glitz and glamor and didn't get lost in it. He chose to live in a farm house in Connecticut close to his family. His business "Newman's Own" established a policy that all proceeds from the sale of products, after taxes, would be donated to charity. As of early 2006, the franchise has resulted in excess of $200 million in donations (I love their products). And unlike most celebrities, his good work and political activism was not bragged about and publicized. He loved car racing, owned a racing car league or whatever they call it, and raced himself. He was stylish and had great taste but was never excessive. He was married to his true soulmate for 50 years til death parted them last month Sep 26th 2008. A long life, most of which was spent for the good of the less fortunate ended due to a lost battle with cancer. His legacy will live on through Newman's own and his daughters. He is probably the only Hollywood star that I cried for when I heard of his passing. He was a man of great character with the most gorgeous eyes ever. RIP Bucth Cassidy, you will be missed.
Fav quote: When asked about infidelity, he quipped, "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?"
Once speculated his epitaph would read “here lies Paul Newman who died a failure because his eyes turned brown”
With Robert Redford.Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid
With wife Joanne woodward
Aged to Perfection
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