Chosen
by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#12). [1995]
Said that
he burned his tuxedo on his 75th birthday because he is through with formality.
Says the
sound he loves most is that of a V-8 engine.
Owns The
Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp for children with cancer and other blood-related diseases (and their siblings) in
Ashford,
Connecticut, and also runs a fall "Discovery" program for inner city kids, also
in Ashford.
Ranked
#19 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Lives in
Connecticut; has been known to race at The Lime Rock Road
Circuit.
Has his
own line of food products, "Newman's Own".
Owns half
of the Champ Car (auto racing) team Newman-Haas.
Awarded
an honorary Oscar in 1994 in recognition of his charity work.
Father, with
Joanne Woodward, of actress Melissa Newman, Nell Potts, and Claire (Clea) Newman.
A son and two
girls with first wife Jackie Witte. His only son, Scott Newman, died of a drug overdose in 1978. Daughter, Susan Kendall Newman, is well known for stage acting and her philanthropic activities.
Before
he became an actor, Newman ran the family sporting goods store in Cleveland,
Ohio.
Chosen
by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. [1990]
He was
the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of superhero Green Lantern/Hal Jordan.
Finished
2nd in the 1979 Le Mans 24hr race in a Porsche 935.
Returned to live
theater for first time in 35 years, in "Our Town" June 2002. Westport Country Playhouse, near Newman's home in Connecticut, staged the classic Thornton Wilder play; theater's artistic director is Newman's wife, Joanne Woodward.
After the Watergate
proceedings wrapped up, was discovered as one of many famous names on Richard Nixon's "Enemies List".
Was training
to be a pilot while in the navy, but was unable to complete, due to color blindness.
Nominated
for a 2003 Tony Award for Best Actor in the Revival of a Play, for "Our Town".
Was mentioned
in Dolce vita, La (1960), in a discussion about salaries paid to film stars.
Within a space
of five months in the year 2003, he was nominated for an Oscar (for Road to Perdition (2002)), a Tony, and an Emmy (both for "Our Town").
Although
he played the lead male roles in the first productions of three Broadway classics near the beginning of his career, Newman
did not receive a Tony Award nomination until 2003, when, at the age of 78, he was nominated as Best Actor for his performance
in the 2002 revival of the stage classic "Our Town". (The Broadway classics that he starred in previously were "The Desperate
Hours", "Picnic" and "Sweet Bird of Youth".)
Was so ashamed
of his debut in the failed costume drama The Silver Chalice (1954), that he took out an ad in Variety apologizing for his performance.
His father
was of Hungarian and Polish heritage and his mother was of Hungarian heritage.
He was
voted the 13th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
The 4th nomination
on Empire Magazine's "Gods Among Us" series along with Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Jack Nicholson.
Students
at Princeton University
have named 24 April Newman's Day. Students try to drink 24 beers over the 24 hours of the day. The tradition stems from a
comment that Newman is alleged to have made; "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." The event
is not officially sponsored by the university, and Newman has commented that he would "like to bring an end to the tradition".
He and Frank Sinatra are the only actors to win an Actor Academy Award, an Humanitarian Academy Award and
a Special Honorary Academy Award. Sinatra won the Best Supporting Actor Award (1953), Humanitarian Award (1970) and a Special
Award (1945, Best Short Subject The House I Live
In (1945)). Newman won the Best Actor Award (1986), the Humanitarian Award (1993)
and a Special Award (1985, Lifetime Achievement Award).
Lee Strasberg, who trained Newman at the Actor's Studio, said that he would have been as great
an actor as Brando if he hadn't been so handsome. According to Strasberg, Newman had the talent, but he too often relied on
his good looks to coast through a role.
Stumped the U.S. for Eugene McCarthy during his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in
1968. Newman made the cover of LIFE Magazine with a McCarthy pin on his jacket on the May 10th, 1968 issue.
Appeared
on Quigley Publications' annual poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars 14 times from 1963 to 1986, which ranks him #7 for
all-time in appearances in the top 10.
He trails Bing Crosby, who made the list 15 times, Clark Gable (16 appearances on the list), Gary Cooper and Tom Cruise (18 times each), Clint Eastwood (21 times) and John Wayne (25 times).
Was named
the #1 Box Office Star by Quigley Publications in its annual Top Ten Money Making Stars poll of movie exhibitors two years
in a row, 1969 and 1970. Newman had been #2 in 1968 and #3 in '67 and would rank #3 in both 1971 and '74. Newman, who entered
the list for the first time in 1963 at #9 and the last time in 1986 at #10, has made the list 17 times.
Is half-Jewish,
according to his wife Joanne Woodward in a joint cover-story in the July 21, 1975 issue of People magazine.
Was nominated
for Broadway's 2003 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for playing the Stage Manager in a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town."
Early in his
acting career, he was often mistaken for Marlon Brando. He claims to have signed around 500 autographs reading, "Best wishes, Marlon Brando."
Premiere
Magazine ranked him as the #6 Greatest Movie Star of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).
He has
announced his plans to star in one more major film and to then retire from acting.
Otto Preminger, a Jew himself, cast Newman in Exodus (1960) because he wanted someone of Jewish heritage that didn't "look Jewish".
Brother
of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity
He was nominated
for 9 Acting Academy Awards in 5 different decades, in the 50s (Best Lead Actor for Cat on a Hot Tin
Roof (1958)), in the 60s (Best Lead Actor for The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), and Cool Hand Luke (1967)), in the 80s (Best Lead Actor for Absence of Malice (1981), The Verdict (1982), and The Color of Money (1986) winning for this last film), in the 90's (Best Lead Actor for Nobody's Fool (1994)) and finally in 2002s Road to Perdition (2002) for Best Supporting Actor.
He and his daughter
Nell Potts were supposed to be in _Paper Moon (1973)_ in the leading roles, but this changed when
original director John Huston bowed out and was replaced by Peter Bogdanovich.
The role of Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There
Likes Me (1956) was originally awarded to James Dean, who died before filming began. Due to Dean's death, Newman was cast in the role. Dean
also was signed to play Billy the Kid in The Left Handed
Gun (1958), but that role was also inherited by Newman (I)' after Dean's death. Dean and
Newman had shot their last screen-tests for East of Eden (1955) together; the six-years-younger Dean got the part and Newman went on to star in
The Silver Chalice (1954), a notorious turkey.
He is only one
of four actors to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films. He played as Fast Eddie
Felson in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986), Peter O'Toole as Henry II in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968), Al Pacino as Michael Corleone for The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather:
Part II (1974) and Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St.
Mary's (1945).
Worked with two
different actors who died on June 6, 2005: Dana Elcar in The Sting (1973) and Anne Bancroft in Silent Movie (1976)
He has one brother,
Arthur Newman, who was named after their father, Arthur S.
Newman,
a successful sporting goods store owner.
Had a son
and two daughters by his first wife, Jackie Witte, to whom he was married from 1949 to 1958: Scott Newman, who died in 1978,
Susan Kendall Newman, who is an actress and philanthropist, and Stephanie Newman. Newman fathered three daughters with his
second wife, Joanne Woodward, whom he married on 29 January 1958: Melissa Newman, Nell Potts and Clea Newman.
Ethnically,
Newman is one-quarter Polish and three-quarters Hungarian. His mother, the former Theresa Fetzko, was born in Hungary. His father, Arthur S. Newman, was the
U.S.-born
offspring of a Hungarian father, Simon Newman, and a Polish mother, Hannah Cohn.
Michelle Pfeiffer wanted Newman to play her father, patriarch Larry Cook, in the 1997 movie A Thousand Acres (1997), which she produced. Newman turned down the part, which went to Jason Robards.
When Premiere
Magazine does a list of 24 Great Performances from each year, they often ask the actors who their idols are. Newman has been
the most frequently cited idol so far.
Was nominated
10 times for the Academy Award, including eight times as Best Actor, once as Best Supporting Actor, and once for Best Picture
(the latter coming the same year he famously did not receive a Best Director nomination despite having won the then-equally
prestigious New York Critics Award as Best Director for Rachel, Rachel (1968).). In the acting field, the only actors with more nominations are Jack Nicholson with 12 nominations (8 Best Actor and 4 Best Supporting Actor nominations) and Laurence Olivier (nine Best Actor nominations and 1 Best Supporting Actor nod). On the distaff side, Bette Davis, who was nominated 10 times for an Academy Award, all of them Best Actress nods. ' Katherine
Hepburn' , with 12 nods (all in the Best Actress category) and Meryl Streep, with 13 nods (11 in the Best Actress category) have more acting nominations than
Newman.
Is one of only
four thespians to be nominated for acting honors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences over five decades: (1950s,
1960s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s).: Laurence Olivier (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s), Katharine Hepburn (1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s), and ,'Jack Nicholson' (1960s, 1970s, 1980s,
1990s and 2000s) are the others who have turned the trick.
Has donated
between $150-175 million to charity since the 1980s.
His performance
as Frank Galvin in The Verdict (1982) is ranked #19 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time
(2006).
His performance
as Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) is ranked #64 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time
(2006).
At his appearance
on "The Tonight Show
with Jay Leno" (1992) he ate some of his own produced dog food. [8th April 2006]
Was director
Robert Wise's first pick for the lead in The Sand Pebbles (1966), eventually played by Steve McQueen, who won his only Oscar nomination for the role. Wise had earlier directed Newman in
Somebody Up There
Likes Me (1956) and Until They Sail (1957).
He said
that he wants to make one more movie before retiring from acting for good [June 2006]
Turned down the
role of Quint in Jaws (1975).
His performance
as Butch Cassidy in _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)_ is ranked #20 on the American Film Institute's 100 Heroes
& Villains. This is a ranking which he shares with Robert Redford, who played the Sundance Kid.
His performance
as Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke (1967) is ranked #30 on the American Film Institute's 100 Heroes & Villains.
Ranked
the #1 Box Office star of 1969 and 1970 by Quigley Publications' annual poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars. He was ranked
#2 in 1968 and at #3 in 1967, 1971 and 1974. In all, he made the Top Ten list 14 times from 1963, when he entered it at #9,
and 1986, when he bowed out of the Top 10 at #10. He was ranked in the Top Ten for 10 straight years from 1966-1975, peaking
in the Top Three from 1967 to 1971.
The GI
Bill got him through his first 3 months at Yale. To pay tuition for the rest of his time there, he sold Encyclopedia Britannica.
He claims he was very good at it.
For a Mother's
Day gift, he gave wife, Joanne Woodward, 2 hours of uninterrupted driving around the roads of Westport, CT that they had never seen before.
Has said
he did not want his epitaph to say two things: "Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown" and
"Here lies the old man who wasn't a part of his time." -1960's.
Godfather of
Jake Gyllenhaal.
Great admirer
of Jim Carrey.
While campaigning
for the Democrats in the 1968 U.S. Presidential
election, Newman would rent a Jaguar on the weekends. When he found out that opponent Richard Nixon , who was known to his naysayers as "Tricky Dick", was renting the same car during
the week, Newman left a note in it saying "This clutch is tricky, so you won't have any trouble with it.".
Prior to filming
The Hustler (1961) , Newman lacked talent at playing pool. But after brushing up on it for the role,
he felt very confident in his ability. So he bet co-star Jackie Gleason $50 on a game of pool. Being the excellent pool player he was, Gleason beat Newman.
Instead of paying him in dollar bills, Newman dumped $50 worth of pennies on the table for Gleason to take.
Failing to receive
an Oscar nomination for his performance in Somebody Up There
Likes Me (1956) , producer Charles Schnee and director Robert Wise gave Newman what they called a "Noscar." The engraving says: "The Schnee-Wise Noscar
award to Paul Newman for best portraying a terrible no-good, for turning him into a charming and lovable sprite, and for thereby
doing what Lincoln said should never be done, i.e. fooling all of the people all of the time.".
After being
asked so many times what the secret was to being married so long to Joanne, he was asked yet again and simply responded: "I
don't know what she puts in my food.".
One of
the most sought after and valuable collectible Rolex watches, the early "Daytona" model, from the 1960's, is known unofficially
and passionately world wide, as the Rolex "Paul Newman." "Paul Newmans" in steel fetch as much as $100,000 in auctions. This
nickname was adopted as he sported one in film.
A film poster
of Paul Newman in Hud (1963) appears in the film Midnight Cowboy (1969).
During the 1950s
and 1960s he was a close friend of fellow Democrat and civil rights activist Charlton Heston. Later, in 1983, after Heston's political beliefs had moved to the Right, both actors
took opposing sides in a television debate on President Ronald Reagan's Star Wars defense missile program. Heston, much better briefed and prepared than Newman,
was judged to have won the debate easily. Some years later, when Newman learned that Heston was supposed to introduce him
at an awards ceremony, Newman insisted that his one-time friend be replaced by the liberal Donald Sutherland.
Supported Senator
Ted Kennedy's campaign to win the Democratic nomination in 1980.
In 2007,
his auto racing team, known as Newman-Haas, became Newman/Haas/Lanigan due to Chicago
businessman Michael Lanigan becoming a partner.
In 2003,
he became the fourth actor to receive an Oscar, Emmy and Tony nomination in the same calendar year (for Road to Perdition
and the TV and stage versions of Our Town respectively).
Turned down the
part taken by Robert Duvall in "The Paper" (1994).
Announced
in May 2007 that he is retiring from acting. He had previously announced his retirement in 1995, but came back to make four
more movies.
Opened
a restaurant in 2006 called "Dressing Room" with co-owner and chef Michael Nischan in Westport,
Connecticut. It was originally opened to help subsidize the Westport Country
Playhouse, which sits next to it.
He is a
vocal supporter of gay marriage.
Was offered
the role of Judah Ben-Hur in "Ben-Hur" (1959) but turned it down because he said he didn't have the legs to wear a tunic.
Got two roles
which were first offered to Elvis Presley but who's manager turned those down: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958) and "Sweet
Bird of Youth" (1962).
"The Eiger
Sanction" (1975) was originally intended as a vehicle for him.