Paul Newman: The Guy Did It All .....
Sad news today, as we learned of the passing of Paul Newman: Actor, Oscar Winner, Businessman, Philanthopist, Political Activist. He was the anti-actor. A unbelieveably good looking guy, who did everything to not be labeled a sex symbol. A guy who hated Hollywood, mostly spending his time on his Connecticut farm. Oddest of all, he stayed married to his Hollywood wife , actress Joanne Woodward, for over 50 years - truly he broke the mold.
He was nominated for an Academy Award an amazing 10 times, winning in 1986 for "The Color of Money", despite Tom Cruise's ham job in the film... His body of work is like a film All Star list: 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", 'Hud', 'The Hustler', 'Cool Hand Luke', 'The Sting', 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Towering Inferno', 'Nobody's Fool'... the list goes on, and when Newman got tired of acting, he moved on.
He started his own racing team, where they won a slew of races in the Can-Am and ARCA divisions, and raced for over a decade . Most people our age are more familiar with his Newman's Own products, which started as a joke. That joke ended up donating over $220 million to various charities, he also donated $10 million last year to his alma mater, Kenyon College of Ohio.
Politically, he was a pretty liberal guy.. He opposed the Vietnam War, and even made Richard Nixon's infamous 'Enemies List'. Personally, I never heard that much from him politically, so if a guy starts a company that donates all of it's profits to charities, who can really complain? It's not like he's petitioning Congress for the money. I may not agree, but I can respect the hell out of that...
Here's a YouTube clip that someone posted today. It's a really nice tribute to the man.
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1 comment:
the sting and sundance kid my favorites
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