Actor Paul Newman Dead at Age 83: A Biography of This Legendary Man

Actor Paul Newman died Friday (09/26/08) at age 83. He succumbed to cancer. Newman had been battling this disease for months. Below is a biography of this legendary man's life. It shows that he definitely had a lot of heart and desire to live a full life.

Early Years

Born in a suburb of Cleveland (Shaker Heights, Ohio), Paul Newman was the product of two cultures. His mother Theresa was Slovak and a Catholic (later converted to Christian Science) while his father Arthur was Jewish. His parents gave him and his brother (Arthur) a comfortable living because they owned a sporting good store.

At a young age, Paul Newman, showed an interest in theater. By age seven, he did his first play at school. He was a court jester in Robin Hood. However, it would not be apparent to the world that Newman was a star until he got into his late 20's. By then, he'd graduated from Shaker Heights High School, fought in World War II and graduated from Kenyon College. It was at this point that he started to seriously pursue an acting career.

Movie Career

In preparation for a career in acting, Paul Newman studied acting at Yale University under Lee Strasberg. Then, he left New York and moved to Hollywood. His moved paid off. Newman immediately got roles in Broadway plays (Picnic, The Desperate Hours, Sweet Bird of Youth) and debuted in his first movie The Silver Chalice by 1954. This moment would mark the beginning of a lucrative film career. Below is a list a few memorable ones:

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
The Long Hot Summer (1958)
The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Exodus (1960)
Paris Blues (1961)
The Hustler (1961)
Hud (1963)
Harper (1966)
Hombre (1967)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Towering Inferno (1974)

After making several movies, Paul Newman returned to the theatre and began doing Pulitzer Prize-winning plays like The Shadow Box and The Glass Menagerie. He also acted in an HBO series Empire Falls. In March of 2007 at age 82, Paul Newman officially retired from acting because he could no longer keep up.

Personal Life