January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008
Paul Newman
(Photo: jimculp@live.com / ProRallyPix via photopin cc)
Born In Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA.
Newman showed an early interest in the theater, which his mother encouraged. At the age of seven, he made his acting debut, playing the court jester in a school production of Robin Hood.
Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater. Initially, he enrolled in the Navy V-12 pilot training program at Yale University, but was dropped when his colorblindness was discovered. Boot camp followed, with training as a radioman and rear gunner. Qualifying in torpedo bombers in 1944, Aviation Radioman Third Class Newman was sent to Barber's Point, Hawaii. He was subsequently assigned to Pacific-based replacement torpedo squadrons VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100, responsible primarily for training replacement combat pilots and air crewmen, with special emphasis on carrier landings.
Newman later flew from aircraft carriers as a turret gunner in an Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, he was ordered aboard the USS Bunker Hill with a draft of replacements shortly before the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. An ear infection grounded his pilot, leaving the pair the detail's sole survivors when the rest of their unit was wiped out in action during the campaign.
After the war, he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1949. Shortly after earning his degree, Newman joined several summer stock companies, most notably the Belfry Players in Wisconsin and the Woodstock Players in Illinois. He toured with them for three months and developed his talents as a part of Woodstock Players. Newman later attended the Yale School of Drama for one year before moving to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
Newman was married to Jackie Witte from 1949 to 1958. They had two daughters, Stephanie and Susan, and a son, Scott, who died in November 1978 from a drug overdose. Scott appeared in films including Breakheart Pass, The Towering Inferno and the 1977 film Fraternity Row. Paul Newman started the Scott Newman Center for drug abuse prevention in memory of his son. Susan is a documentary filmmaker and philanthropist and has Broadway and screen credits, including a starring role as one of four Beatles fans in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and also a small role opposite her father in Slap Shot. She also received an Emmy nomination as co-producer of his telefilm, The Shadow Box.
Newman met actress Joanne Woodward in 1953. Shortly after filming The Long, Hot Summer in 1957, he divorced Witte. He married Woodward early in 1958.
(Photo: Film Star Vintage via photopin cc)
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
They remained married for fifty years until his death. They had three daughters, Elinor "Nell" Teresa, Melissa "Lissy" Stewart, and Claire "Clea" Olivia. The Newmans lived away from the Hollywood environment, making their home in Westport, Connecticut. Newman was well known for his devotion to his wife and family. When asked once about infidelity, he famously quipped, "Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?" Newman was also an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church Monastery, a one-day online certificate program to officiate weddings.
Newman arrived in New York City in 1951. He made his Broadway theater debut in the original production of William Inge's Picnic with Kim Stanley in 1953 and appeared in the original Broadway production of The Desperate Hours in 1955. In 1959, he was in the original Broadway production of Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page and three years later starred with Page in the film version.
During this time Newman started acting in television. He had his first credited TV or film appearance with a small but notable part in a 1952 episode of the science fiction TV series Tales of Tomorrow entitled "Ice from Space". In the mid-1950s, he appeared twice on CBS's Appointment with Adventure anthology series.
Newman's first movie for Hollywood was The Silver Chalice. The film was a box office failure and the actor would later acknowledge his disdain for it. In 1956, Newman garnered much attention and acclaim for the boxer Graziano lead in Somebody Up There Likes Me. By 1958, he was one of the hottest new stars in Hollywood. Later that year, he starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite Elizabeth Taylor. The film was a box office smash and Newman garnered his first Academy Award nomination. Also in 1958, Newman starred in The Long, Hot Summer with Joanne Woodward, with whom he reconnected on the set in 1957. He won best actor at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival for this film.
Newman was one of the few actors who successfully made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. His rebellious persona translated well to a subsequent generation. Newman starred in Exodus, The Hustler, Hud, Harper, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, The Towering Inferno, Slap Shot, and The Verdict. He teamed with fellow actor Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969 and The Sting in 1973.
He appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the feature films The Long, Hot Summer, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, From the Terrace, Paris Blues, A New Kind of Love, Winning, WUSA, The Drowning Pool, Harry & Son, and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. They both also 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 starring Woodward. They were Rachel, Rachel, 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, the television screen version of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play The Shadow Box, and a screen version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.
Twenty-five years after The Hustler, Newman reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese–directed film The Color of Money, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The Award has been looked upon as a "make-up" for his past body of work. He told a television interviewer that winning that Oscar at the age of 62 deprived him of his fantasy of formally being presented with it in extreme old age.
In 2003, Newman appeared in a Broadway revival of Wilder's Our Town, receiving his first Tony Award nomination for his performance. PBS and the cable network Showtime aired a taping of the production, and Newman was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Newman's last screen appearance was as a conflicted mob boss in the 2002 film Road to Perdition opposite Tom Hanks, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, although he continued to provide voice work for films. In 2006, in keeping with his strong interest in car racing, he provided the voice of Doc Hudson, a retired anthropomorphic race car in Disney/Pixar's Cars, this was his final role for a major feature film.
Newman announced his retirement from acting on May 25, 2007. He stated that he did not feel he could continue acting at the level he wanted to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me." He recorded narration tracks for two more films, however, the 2007 documentary Dale, about the life of the legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, and the 2008 documentary The Meerkats, which was his final role before his death.
Newman was an auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports while training at the Watkins Glen Racing School for the filming of Winning, a 1969 film.
Because of his love and passion for racing, Newman agreed in 1971 to star in and to host his first television special, Once Upon a Wheel, on the history of auto racing. It was produced and directed by David Winters, who co-owned a number of racing cars with Newman. Newman's first professional event as a racer was in 1972, at Thompson International Speedway, and he was a frequent competitor in Sports Car Club of America events for the rest of the decade, eventually winning four national championships. He later drove in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in Dick Barbour's Porsche 935 and finished in second place. Newman reunited with Barbour in 2000 to compete in the Petit Le Mans.
From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns in the Trans-Am Series.
(Photo: Hans J E via photopin cc)
He became closely associated with the brand during the 1980s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 years and eight days, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. Among his last races were the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.
During the 1976 auto racing season, Paul Newman became interested in forming a professional auto racing team and contacted Bill Freeman from Santa Barbara. Bill is credited as the man who introduced Paul Newman to professional auto racing management, and their company specialized in Can-Am, Indy Cars, and other high performance racing automobiles. The team was based in Santa Barbara, California and commuted to Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for much of its testing sessions.
Their "Newman Freeman Racing" team was very competitive in the North American Can-Am series in their Budweiser sponsored Chevrolet powered Spyder NFs.
(Photo: racin jason via photopin cc)
Ex Paul Newman Lola at the recent all Historic Meeting at Eastern Creek Raceway.
Paul and Bill began a long and successful partnership with the Newman Freeman Racing team in the Can-Am series which culminated in the Can-Am Team Championship trophy in 1979. Their drivers included Keke Rosberg, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Randolph Townsend, Mike Brockman, Howdy Holmes, Teo Fabi, Patrick Depailler, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, Johnny Parson Jr., among others.
(Paul at Mosport - Early 80's)
Paul was also associated with Bill Freeman's established Porsche racing team which allowed both Paul and Bill to compete in S.C.C.A. and I.M.S.A. racing events together, including the Sebring 12-hour endurance sports car race. This car was sponsored by Beverly Porsche/Audi. Bill Freeman was also Sports Car Club of America's Southern Pacific National Champion during the Newman Freeman Racing period.
Later Newman co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983, going on to win 8 drivers' championships under his ownership. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film Super Speedway, which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing.
(Paul - 2004 Montreal)
Newman was scheduled to make his professional stage directing debut with the Westport Country Playhouse's 2008 production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, but he stepped down on May 23, 2008, citing health issues. In June 2008, it was widely reported that Newman had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment at Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York City. In August, after reportedly finishing chemotherapy, Newman told his family he wished to die at home.
Newman died on September 26, 2008, aged 83, surrounded by his family and close friends. He was survived by five of his six children and eight grandchildren. His remains were cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport.
Newman was posthumously inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame at the national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 21, 2009.
(Photo: Bryce Womeldurf via photopin cc)
(Nissan 280Z windshield with Paul Newman memorial)
With writer A. E. Hotchner, Newman founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982. The brand started with salad dressing, and has expanded to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa, and wine, among other things. Newman established a policy that all proceeds, after taxes, would be donated to charity.
(Photo: Petezin via photopin cc)
As of 2013, the franchise has donated in excess of $380 million. He co-wrote a memoir about the subject with Hotchner, Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good. Among other awards, Newman's Own co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 reward designed to recognize those who protect the First Amendment as it applies to the written word.
One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman co-founded the camp in 1988, named after the gang in his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Newman's college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, adopted Hole in the Wall as their "national philanthropy" in 1995. One camp has expanded to become several Hole in the Wall Camps in the U.S., Ireland, France, and Israel. The camps serve 13,000 children every year, free of charge.
(Photo credit: The359 via photopin cc)
(Photo credit: The359 via photopin cc)
Born In Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA.
Newman showed an early interest in the theater, which his mother encouraged. At the age of seven, he made his acting debut, playing the court jester in a school production of Robin Hood.
Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II in the Pacific theater. Initially, he enrolled in the Navy V-12 pilot training program at Yale University, but was dropped when his colorblindness was discovered. Boot camp followed, with training as a radioman and rear gunner. Qualifying in torpedo bombers in 1944, Aviation Radioman Third Class Newman was sent to Barber's Point, Hawaii. He was subsequently assigned to Pacific-based replacement torpedo squadrons VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100, responsible primarily for training replacement combat pilots and air crewmen, with special emphasis on carrier landings.
Newman later flew from aircraft carriers as a turret gunner in an Avenger torpedo bomber. As a radioman-gunner, he was ordered aboard the USS Bunker Hill with a draft of replacements shortly before the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. An ear infection grounded his pilot, leaving the pair the detail's sole survivors when the rest of their unit was wiped out in action during the campaign.
After the war, he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1949. Shortly after earning his degree, Newman joined several summer stock companies, most notably the Belfry Players in Wisconsin and the Woodstock Players in Illinois. He toured with them for three months and developed his talents as a part of Woodstock Players. Newman later attended the Yale School of Drama for one year before moving to New York City to study under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
Newman was married to Jackie Witte from 1949 to 1958. They had two daughters, Stephanie and Susan, and a son, Scott, who died in November 1978 from a drug overdose. Scott appeared in films including Breakheart Pass, The Towering Inferno and the 1977 film Fraternity Row. Paul Newman started the Scott Newman Center for drug abuse prevention in memory of his son. Susan is a documentary filmmaker and philanthropist and has Broadway and screen credits, including a starring role as one of four Beatles fans in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, and also a small role opposite her father in Slap Shot. She also received an Emmy nomination as co-producer of his telefilm, The Shadow Box.
Newman met actress Joanne Woodward in 1953. Shortly after filming The Long, Hot Summer in 1957, he divorced Witte. He married Woodward early in 1958.
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
They remained married for fifty years until his death. They had three daughters, Elinor "Nell" Teresa, Melissa "Lissy" Stewart, and Claire "Clea" Olivia. The Newmans lived away from the Hollywood environment, making their home in Westport, Connecticut. Newman was well known for his devotion to his wife and family. When asked once about infidelity, he famously quipped, "Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?" Newman was also an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church Monastery, a one-day online certificate program to officiate weddings.
Newman arrived in New York City in 1951. He made his Broadway theater debut in the original production of William Inge's Picnic with Kim Stanley in 1953 and appeared in the original Broadway production of The Desperate Hours in 1955. In 1959, he was in the original Broadway production of Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page and three years later starred with Page in the film version.
During this time Newman started acting in television. He had his first credited TV or film appearance with a small but notable part in a 1952 episode of the science fiction TV series Tales of Tomorrow entitled "Ice from Space". In the mid-1950s, he appeared twice on CBS's Appointment with Adventure anthology series.
Newman's first movie for Hollywood was The Silver Chalice. The film was a box office failure and the actor would later acknowledge his disdain for it. In 1956, Newman garnered much attention and acclaim for the boxer Graziano lead in Somebody Up There Likes Me. By 1958, he was one of the hottest new stars in Hollywood. Later that year, he starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite Elizabeth Taylor. The film was a box office smash and Newman garnered his first Academy Award nomination. Also in 1958, Newman starred in The Long, Hot Summer with Joanne Woodward, with whom he reconnected on the set in 1957. He won best actor at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival for this film.
Newman was one of the few actors who successfully made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. His rebellious persona translated well to a subsequent generation. Newman starred in Exodus, The Hustler, Hud, Harper, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, The Towering Inferno, Slap Shot, and The Verdict. He teamed with fellow actor Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969 and The Sting in 1973.
He appeared with his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the feature films The Long, Hot Summer, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, From the Terrace, Paris Blues, A New Kind of Love, Winning, WUSA, The Drowning Pool, Harry & Son, and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. They both also 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 starring Woodward. They were Rachel, Rachel, 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, the television screen version of the Pulitzer Prize–winning play The Shadow Box, and a screen version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.
Twenty-five years after The Hustler, Newman reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese–directed film The Color of Money, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The Award has been looked upon as a "make-up" for his past body of work. He told a television interviewer that winning that Oscar at the age of 62 deprived him of his fantasy of formally being presented with it in extreme old age.
In 2003, Newman appeared in a Broadway revival of Wilder's Our Town, receiving his first Tony Award nomination for his performance. PBS and the cable network Showtime aired a taping of the production, and Newman was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Newman's last screen appearance was as a conflicted mob boss in the 2002 film Road to Perdition opposite Tom Hanks, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, although he continued to provide voice work for films. In 2006, in keeping with his strong interest in car racing, he provided the voice of Doc Hudson, a retired anthropomorphic race car in Disney/Pixar's Cars, this was his final role for a major feature film.
Newman announced his retirement from acting on May 25, 2007. He stated that he did not feel he could continue acting at the level he wanted to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me." He recorded narration tracks for two more films, however, the 2007 documentary Dale, about the life of the legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, and the 2008 documentary The Meerkats, which was his final role before his death.
Newman was an auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports while training at the Watkins Glen Racing School for the filming of Winning, a 1969 film.
From the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Datsuns in the Trans-Am Series.
He became closely associated with the brand during the 1980s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70 years and eight days, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, winning in his class at the 1995 24 Hours of Daytona. Among his last races were the Baja 1000 in 2004 and the 24 Hours of Daytona once again in 2005.
During the 1976 auto racing season, Paul Newman became interested in forming a professional auto racing team and contacted Bill Freeman from Santa Barbara. Bill is credited as the man who introduced Paul Newman to professional auto racing management, and their company specialized in Can-Am, Indy Cars, and other high performance racing automobiles. The team was based in Santa Barbara, California and commuted to Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for much of its testing sessions.
Their "Newman Freeman Racing" team was very competitive in the North American Can-Am series in their Budweiser sponsored Chevrolet powered Spyder NFs.
Ex Paul Newman Lola at the recent all Historic Meeting at Eastern Creek Raceway.
Paul and Bill began a long and successful partnership with the Newman Freeman Racing team in the Can-Am series which culminated in the Can-Am Team Championship trophy in 1979. Their drivers included Keke Rosberg, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Randolph Townsend, Mike Brockman, Howdy Holmes, Teo Fabi, Patrick Depailler, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, Johnny Parson Jr., among others.
Paul was also associated with Bill Freeman's established Porsche racing team which allowed both Paul and Bill to compete in S.C.C.A. and I.M.S.A. racing events together, including the Sebring 12-hour endurance sports car race. This car was sponsored by Beverly Porsche/Audi. Bill Freeman was also Sports Car Club of America's Southern Pacific National Champion during the Newman Freeman Racing period.
Later Newman co-founded Newman/Haas Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983, going on to win 8 drivers' championships under his ownership. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film Super Speedway, which Newman narrated. He was also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing.
Newman was scheduled to make his professional stage directing debut with the Westport Country Playhouse's 2008 production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, but he stepped down on May 23, 2008, citing health issues. In June 2008, it was widely reported that Newman had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment at Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York City. In August, after reportedly finishing chemotherapy, Newman told his family he wished to die at home.
Newman died on September 26, 2008, aged 83, surrounded by his family and close friends. He was survived by five of his six children and eight grandchildren. His remains were cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport.
Newman was posthumously inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame at the national convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 21, 2009.
(Nissan 280Z windshield with Paul Newman memorial)
With writer A. E. Hotchner, Newman founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982. The brand started with salad dressing, and has expanded to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa, and wine, among other things. Newman established a policy that all proceeds, after taxes, would be donated to charity.
As of 2013, the franchise has donated in excess of $380 million. He co-wrote a memoir about the subject with Hotchner, Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good. Among other awards, Newman's Own co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 reward designed to recognize those who protect the First Amendment as it applies to the written word.
One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman co-founded the camp in 1988, named after the gang in his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Newman's college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, adopted Hole in the Wall as their "national philanthropy" in 1995. One camp has expanded to become several Hole in the Wall Camps in the U.S., Ireland, France, and Israel. The camps serve 13,000 children every year, free of charge.
(Photo credit: The359 via photopin cc)
I have pictures of Paul when he was at Sebring racetrack. Nice guy
ReplyDeleteI had the pleasure of meeting him where he was competing in a Trans-Am race at Seattle International Raceway (now Pacific Raceway). I was Chief Turn Martial at the time and had to criticize his actions on a minor issue. He actually seamed to enjoy it! He later sought me out for some advice on driving lines for this track. A very gratifying experience.
ReplyDeleteGoogle...17 Things we did not know about the F-14 Fighter....No 8 Skip Panzarella and PL
ReplyDeleteLora Roberts
ReplyDeleteMy weekend with Paul Newman
Sadden by the death of Paul Newman, I remembered when my husband Monty Roberts called me and said “get a babysitter, we are going to Bridgehampton Race Track on Long Island to accompany Paul Newman at the race this weekend.” Monty was running the Racing Division for Ford Motor Company and Paul Newman wanted to get into automobile racing.
We arrived in Bridgehampton’s tiny airport with a limousine and driver ready to pick up Paul Newman. The small private aircraft landed and Paul Newman unbeknown to us had invited Hugh Downs the news broadcaster to join him, they both took one look at the limousine and said they wanted to ride with us in the back seat of a Ford Sedan the company had provided and their staff could ride in the limo. I remember Paul had on blue jeans, a tee shirt with wide blue and white stripes with an unbuttoned denim shirt. I remember being taken totally off guard, since I thought we would just be there to make sure Paul had everything he needed. Instead we instantly had these two famous men treating us like we were there friends. One remark I remember Paul making to Hugh was commenting on the beauty of Jacqueline Bisset who had just entered the movie scene. And I also remember Paul tilting his head back and putting in eye drops. Oh those blue eyes. Paul was very handsome and the odd thing was that Monty my husband looked very much like Paul Newman, the difference was in size, Paul was not tall about 5’7 and Monty was 6 ft. Actually, at a later race where both Paul and Monty both attended a fan approached Monty thinking he was Paul Newman and wanted an autograph and the fan refused to believe that Monty wasn’t Paul.
But back to my story, the race track has a winding road course where spectators walk to various turns to watch the race cars and while we were walking with Paul fans would ask for autograph and Paul would say “If I gave an autograph to you, I would never be able to leave this spot with others wanting an autograph and I would miss the race.” He had the most sincere expression making the fan feel that if Paul did give an autograph this fan would be the chosen one. The fan would almost apologize for asking. One time a pretty young teenager asked Paul if he would give her a kiss and Paul replied “what if I couldn’t stop?” the girl was totally thrilled. We spent the day chatting and walking the course, Paul had just finished filming Cool Hand Luke and said he never wanted to look at another boiled egg. He discussed his movie career much the same way your next door neighbor would tell about his job, no ego, no setting himself apart.
After the race was over Paul sat in Mario Andretti’s formula car and Paul looked like a kid on his first bike. A deal was struck that Ford would participate in Paul’s racing career with the Newman Race Car. Paul asked Monty if Ford would provide a station wagon for his Nanny, which struck me as so funny. We had some dinner together and took them back to the airport the next day.
About two weeks later I was fixing dinner waiting for Monty to come home when the phone rang. I answered and the long distance operator said “person to person call for Monty Roberts” I said that Monty was not home and then I heard a voice say “Lora this is Paul” shouting over the operators voice. I ran around the house like a crazy person for a few minutes, it seemed incredulous to me that Paul Newman had actually called our home phone number. When Monty returned the call it turned out that Paul wanted to know if we were going to be at a race the following weekend because he thought his wife Joann Woodard (who wasn’t keen about his racing interest) would like me and Monty and warm up to his new passion. Unfortunately it didn’t work out since Monty had to attend a different race .
But the thrill remained and when Paul Newman died recently I felt a twinge in my heart remembering this very talented and generous man who was my friend, if just for a weekend.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209690266236469&set=a.1998825893340.246879.1324306393&type=3&theater
ReplyDeleteGoogle ...17 Things we did not know abut the F14 Fighter...No 8 ........Skip Panzarella and Paul Newman. macs3333@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI own Paul's Iconic 1979 Champion Datsun 280ZX.....FOR SALE