The Nupex Blog

September 27, 2008 (by Otto Smyth)

According to reports by Los Angeles car accident attorneys, the legendary actor, racecar driver and entrepreneur of Newman’s Own food line has passed away after his battle with cancer at age 83. Its been reported that Newman passed away at his farmhouse outside of Westport Connecticut on Friday and was surrounded by family and friends.

Paul Newman will be remembered by many as the legendary actor of movies like Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Color Of Money, Exodus, the Sting and many other where he played the leading roll. Newman has over 50 movies to his credit, was nominated for 10 Oscar awards and won one along with two honorary awards.

He worked with Actors John Houston, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and many others. The Actresses that Newman worked with were Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor, along with many others and directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese.

While Paul Newman will be remembered by many for his movies, he will also be remembered by many racecar fans, because while acting was his career, racing was his true passion. Car racing became a hobby and passion for Newman after he had to learn how to race for a 1972 film “Winning” and found he really enjoyed the sport. He began racing on an amateur basis and won enough cups and trophies within the first five years that he was able to turn semi-professional.

In 1979 Newman and his racing team placed second in the Le Mans and he continued to race and in 1995 at age 70 he won the 24 hour Daytona Beach auto race. In August of 2005 Newman spoke with the media in Philadelphia while meeting with the city officials about bringing Champ Car series racing to the city of Philadelphia. Newman also set up teams of his own for Indycar and NASCAR racing.

Newman was born January 26, 1925 in Cleveland Ohio and was of German and Hungarian decent. He was named Paul Leonard Newman and in 1943 he enlisted in the Navy, where he could not become a pilot because he was colorblind. He instead served as a radioman on torpedo bombers. Once out of the Navy, Newman enrolled in Kenyon College in Ohio under the G.I. Bill and joined the football team. He was kicked of the team after a bar room fight for which he spent a night in jail. It was after this that he began his involvement in the theatrical department and graduated in 1949 with a degree in English.

Newman has also been a legend in Hollywood for his marriage to Joanne Woodward since acting together in the Long Hot Summer in 1958. When questioned about his long marriage he has been known to state “why have hamburgers when you have stake at home.” Newman was married prior to this marriage and had two daughters and a son, he and Woodward have three daughters. newspersonal injury attorney los angeles