Paul Newman
From Uwphitau
Paul Leonard Newman (born January 26, 1925) is an Oscar winning American actor and film director.
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Family Background
Newman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, Ohio, to Theresa Fetzko (a Hungarian-born Catholic, who became a Christian Scientist) and Arthur S. Newman, a successful sporting goods store owner, who was born in the U.S. to a Hungarian Jewish father, Simon Newman, and a Polish Jewish mother, Hannah Cohn. He has one brother, Arthur Newman.
Career
Newman served in the United States Navy in World War II, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Prior to entering the service, he attended Ohio University in Athens, OH. He completed his degree at Kenyon College after the war and later studied acting at Yale University. While he was attending graduate school at Yale, he became a successful stage actor on Broadway. His first movie, The Silver Chalice (1954) has been described by Newman as the "worst movie of the entire 1950s decade," but he rebounded with a series of acclaimed roles.
With his piercing blue eyes and handsome chiseled features he could have been just a romantic leading man but he wanted much more than that. Newman was one of the few actors who successfully made the transition from 1950s to the 1960s and 1970s cinema. His rebellious persona translated well to a subsequent generation.
Philanthropy
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], and salsa, among other things. Newman donates the proceeds, after taxes, to charity. As of early 2005, the franchise has resulted in $175 million in donations. He co-wrote a memoir about the subject, Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good (ISBN 0385508026).
One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located between Ashford and Eastford in Connecticut. Newman co-founded the camp in 1986; it was named after the gang in his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). 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. Hole in the Wall Camps include:
- Camp Boggy Creek, Eustis, Florida
- Double "H" Ranch, Lake Luzerne, New York
- The Painted Turtle, Lake Hughes, California
- The Victory Junction Gang, Randleman, North Carolina
- Over the Wall, Alton, Hampshire
- Jordan River Village, Ra'annana, Israel
- L’Envol, Echouboulains, France
- Barretstown Ballymore Eustace, Ireland
Filmography (as actor)
- The Silver Chalice]] (1954)
Paul Newman and Robert Redford in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
- Somebody Up There Likes Me]] (1956)
- The Rack (1956)
- Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958)
- The Hustler (1961)
- Paris Blues (1961)
- Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
- Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
- Luke (1967) (short subject)
- Hombre (1967)
- Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- The Making of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1970) (documentary)
- The Sting (1973)
- The Towering Inferno (1974)
- The Verdict (1982)
- Harry and Son (1984)
- The Color of Money (1986)
- Nobody's Fool (1994)
- Super Speedway (1997) (documentary)
- Twilight (1998)
- Message in a Bottle (1999)
- Where the Money Is (2000)
- Road to Perdition (2002)
- Empire Falls (2005) (HBO television movie)
- Cars (2006) (voice)
