Screen legend, superstar, and the man with the most famous blue eyes in movie history, Paul Newman was born in 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of a successful sporting goods store owner. He acted in grade school and high school plays and after being disharged from the navy in 1946 enrolled at Kenyon College. After graduation he spent a year at the Yale Drama School and then headed to New York, where he attended the famed New York Actors Studio. Classically handsome and with a super abundance of sex appeal, television parts came easily and, after his first Broadway appearance in "Picnic" (1953), he was offered a movie contract by Warner Brothers. His first film, The Silver Chalice (1954) was nearly his last. He considered his performance in this costume epic to be so bad that he took out a full-page ad in a trade paper apologizing for it to anyone who might have seen it. He fared much better in his next effort, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), in which he portrayed boxer Rocky Graziano (I) and drew raves from the critics for his briliant performance. He went on to become one of the top box office draws of the 1960s, starring in such superior films as The Hustler (1961), The Prize (1963), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). He also produced and directed many quality films, including Rachel, Rachel (1968) in which he directed wife Joanne Woodward (I) and which received an Oscar nomination for best picture. Nominated nine times for a best actor Oscar, he finally took one home for his performance as an aging pool shark in The Color of Money (1986). Though well into his 70s as the century drew to a close, Newman still commanded lead roles in films such as Message in a Bottle (1999). He lives with his wife in Westport, Connecticut. A caring and supremely generous man, he is the founder of "Newman's Own" a successful line of food products that has earned in excess of $100 million, every penny of which the philanthropic movie icon has donated to charity. Renowned for his sense of humor, in 1998 he quipped that he was a little embarrassed to see his salad dressing grossing more than his movies.
Known For
Credits
Cast Credits
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2001)
Guest starring as Paul Newman
- Episode 7x01: Paul Newman, Christian Slater, Jack Dee, Paul Weller, The 5, 6, 7, 8's (Sep 3, 2004)
The Late Show with David Letterman (1993)
Guest starring as Paul Newman
- Episode 1993-08-30: Bill Murray, Tom Brokaw, Paul Newman, Billy Joel (Aug 30, 1993)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962)
Guest starring as Paul Newman
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1970-11-23: Nov 23, 1970 (Nov 23, 1970)
- Episode 1968-02-08: Feb 8, 1968 (Feb 8, 1968)
The Mike Douglas Show (1961)
Guest starring as Paul Newman
(2 episodes)
- Episode 18x140: May 18, 1979 (May 18, 1979)
- Episode 18x139: May 17, 1979 (May 17, 1979)
Tony Awards (1957)
Guest starring as Presenter
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1968-04-21: The 22nd Annual Tony Awards (Apr 21, 1968)
- Episode 1961-04-16: 15th Tony Awards (Apr 16, 1961)
The United States Steel Hour (1953)
Guest starring as Henry Wiggen
- Episode 4x02: Bang the Drum Slowly (Sep 26, 1956)
Oscars (1953)
Guest starring as Paul Newman
(8 episodes)
- Episode 1995-03-27: The 67th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 27, 1995)
- Episode 1992-03-30: The 64th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 30, 1992)
- Episode 1988-04-11: The 60th Annual Academy Awards (Apr 11, 1988)
- Episode 1986-03-24: The 58th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 24, 1986)
- Episode 1983-04-11: The 55th Annual Academy Awards (Apr 11, 1983)
- Episode 1968-04-10: The 40th Annual Academy Awards (Apr 10, 1968)
- Episode 1962-04-09: The 34th Annual Academy Awards (Apr 9, 1962)
- Episode 1958-03-26: The 30th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 26, 1958)