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We’ve Lost a Movie Legend, Boomer Friends, Paul Newman

27 Sep 2008

27 Sep, 2008  Baby Boomer Misc.

What sad news to hear that Paul Newman has passed away today after his battle with cancer, lung cancer, I believe?  To me he is forever young in my memory, so I’m not including a picture. I don’t see him any other way, and when I heard that he was 83 years old, was so surprised…that would make him a year younger that my father, who passed a few years ago next month.

You have to respect a guy who lives outside the Hollywood circle, and has lived a life devoted to one woman for 50+ years.  I read in one source that when asked about being tempted by other woman, he said, in classic Newman style, “I have steak at home, why should I go for hamburger”.

He leaves behind 3 daughters that he parented with Joanne Woodward,  and 2 by a previous short-lived marriage.  He lived in Connecticut and was treated in New York City’s Sloan Kettering Hospital, and after his last chemotherapy treatments at the end of the summer, August, I believe, he was given weeks to live.  He went home, telling his family he wanted to die at home.  He died surrounded by family and friends.

He has left his a tremendous sum of money from his Newman’s Own business to charity, not as a last minute decision when dying, this was in the plans before he was diagnosed.

My husband and I have watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” often, but for Boomers, his movies go back to when we were very young.  What was your favorite Newman movie?


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7 Responses

  1. Betty Lynch

    2008 Sep 27 1

    This is a sad day when I learned about Paul Newman, a wonderful family man.

  2. Anne Holmes

    2008 Sep 27 2

    Newman will be missed.

    Butch and Sundance was a favorite, but there were so many great Paul Newman movies.

    Who can forget him in The Sting, Hud, Cool Hand Luke. Even liked him in The Color of Money.

    Maybe I’ll have to watch them all again, just for hte momory.

    Anne

  3. Larry

    2008 Sep 29 3

    My you said it well. Newman was a role model for us boomer males –you did not have speak with a foreign accent to appear sophisticated, you did not have to be the most intimidating guy on the block to be tough, you just needed to be smart and cool and a wry sense of humor. OK looks helped but he did more than anyone to not allow them to dominate.

  4. rosie

    2008 Oct 02 4

    He still keeps giving although he is gone.

  5. Leslie Thomas Flowers

    2008 Oct 05 5

    Perhaps had Paul Newman been deeply drawn to politics, he could have done what no one in office has ever done — stood committed to his Word. That might have shifted what has always been ‘okay’ to do — cheat on your spouse. Simply break the promises made with witnesses as a marriage begins. Paul Newman had INTEGRITY.

    For all that he was, I find this quality the most gratifying for I see by statistics that marriage just doesn’t work!. Period. People don’t keep their Word.

    Someone can tell themselves a lie over and over again and eventually they believe it and it lives like the truth for them. We justify and rationalize our behavior until cheating, lying, stealing … becomes comfortable and then okay.

    Newman was one in a million — literally.

    His second greatest virtue was Generosity.

    If only half of our population kept their Word and exercised Generosity, our world would be quite different.

    There are many more. People in marriages — look to Newman for inspiration. People in business — look to Newman for inspiration. People in the public’s eye — look to Newman as an example of Decency.

    Thanks for this post.

  6. Pam Archer

    2008 Oct 05 6

    I liked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I fell in love with Robert Redford in that movie, but Paul Newman was a close second. LOL I applaud all of his efforts of philanthropy and all he has done for so many people.

  7. PopArtDiva

    2008 Oct 11 7

    I too posted a memorial blog to Paul Newman - how can you have a retro pop culture blog and not? He was an icon, bigger than life and a wonderful humanitarian.

    My favorite was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, followed closely by The Long Hot Summer and I was a major fan of his dressings too!


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