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Mates,
Paul Newman has died as the result of lung cancer at age 83. After hospital treatment, he announced in August that he preferred to die at his home in Connecticut.
Newman was known primarily as an actor, but was also famous as a racing driver, and, however unlikely the combination, as a maker of "Newman's Own" salad dressing. I don't think Niki Lauda ever had his own line of quiche!
I remember his work especially some of the earlier movies: "The Hustler", "Hud", Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and my favourite movie of his: "Cool Hand Luke". It's by no means a perfect movie, but "Cool Hand Luke" is a great Newman role. Along with "Hud" and "The Hustler" , Newman tended towards a sense of rebellion- in Coll Hand Luke" he was in jail for cutting the heads of of parking meters- and someone who makes his own rules. In compliant, weak-kneed America, Newman provided a refreshing courage and optimism.
From Wikipedia:
"Newman starred in Exodus (1960), The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966), Hombre (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Towering Inferno (1974), Slap Shot (1977) and The Verdict (1982). He teamed with fellow actor Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973).
He appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the feature films The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, (1958), From the Terrace (1960), Paris Blues (1961), A New Kind of Love (1963), Winning (1969), WUSA (1970), The Drowning Pool (1975), Harry & Son (1984) and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990). They also both starred in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, but did not have any scenes together.
In addition to starring in and directing Harry & Son, Newman also directed four feature films (in which he did not act) starring Woodward. They were Rachel, Rachel (1968), based on Margaret Laurence's A Jest of God, the screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972), the television screen version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Shadow Box (1980) and a screen version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie (1987).
25 years after "The Hustler", Newman reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese directed The Color of Money (1986) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor."<
-An important actor that managed to be a box office draw through the 60's, 70s' and into the 80's. Few actors were so durably interesting and he'll be missed.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Follow Ups:
We recently had a thread about Newman, in August when he announced he was going home to die.
This was what I wrote in tribute then. He had "it", whatever "it" is.
I often find I like him in rolse where he plays the flawed hero, a heel, or an SOB.
N/T
“The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” - John McCain, September 15, 2008
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tier films.
"The Young Philadelphians": he explodes off the screen with repressed power and intelligence.
"Hombre:" you cannot write a better screenplay of what courage is. Perhaps a tad melodramatic but it worked for me. The ending gets to me, everytime.
"Harper:" the quintessential movie of one of modern cinema's great detective portrayals, right up there with "The Long Goodbye (Elliot Gould)" and "Chinatown (you know who)."
"The Long Hot Summer:" Newman is exceptional here as a barn-burner's son who claws his way up. His wife, also, is terrific.
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof:" What's not to like? Two great actors play-off each other in great scene after great scene. Man, Elizabeth in that undergarment was burned into my juvenile libido!
is "Nobody's Fool." The American equivalent of the quirky villager films that the English are so fond of making.
.. the most unreserved compliments about Newman I've seen from you.
be a tad too critical.
When I took a few minutes to reflect, I realized how much of an impact Newman's persona in his many wonderful portrayals had on me, as a young man.
I'm going to spend some very enjoyable hours soon re-visiting his masterworks.
I can't think of another actor working today, anywhere near his talent at a comparable later age. NONE.
Paul's talent stood the test of time.
DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson.... they have declined, precipitously, over their last two decades or so.
Paul is a national treasure.
...DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson is a feeling I've had for some long time now. There are others.
Occasionally they show flashes of what surely remains in them of their former "glory" but for the most part they have become almost caricatures of themselves, overshadowed by their earlier versions. These guys are generally coasting or posing in these times.
This can be interesting from a cultural point of view but as artists they don't seem capable of inspired work or influence any more. Johnny Depp seems a little infected by this, maybe.
Artists make art. Hitting your marks falls far short of that.
I don't want to hijack the thread but I will report that I walked out of the new DeNiro/Pacino flick. FLICK. In 5 minutes I couldn't stand its cheapness. I haven't seen a new Nicholson film in years for similar reasons.
And, further, no matter one thinks about Brando and his later excesses, he never, in my opinion, lost his willingness to experiment, to improvise, to walk the tightrope with whatever his demons would allow him to bring to a performance. I think he was singularly damaged by his reflections on loss of his youth and beauty.
ddd
Falstaffian-figured persona of excess for most of his later years but, yes, he could still pull it together when he wished.
"Missouri Breaks" was one such effort. He roundly was criticized for his character's many excesses but somehow the creature "breathed."
I expected the DeN/Pac latest film to be crap but it actually rose, marginally, above that. The performances were what I found fascinating, yet sad. Even with terrible material, in a mediocre at best film, they boys showed flashes of brilliance-- and they did make some music together, as two fine musicians can even with an inferior score.
..The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. I haven't seen it in years but I recall it had that element of surprising, absurd violence that shocked and delighted simultaneously.
He was so accessible on the screen. As a boy, I was thrilled and genuinely inspired by his adventurous, bigger-than-life, playful portrayals.
He is sometimes criticized for never full inhabiting his character, remaining above the role, winking at the audience, so to speak. I felt this quality of his was strongly attractive and contributed to the vital, enduring connection between him and the audience.
He lived life artfully. He was a genuine STAR.
Got a bad spirit..
" Mieux vaut une tête bien faite qu'une tête bien pleine."
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