Oscar Winner with a Rich Legacy
September 26, 2008
Paul Newman
had one of the most impressive film careers in history and achieved
enormous fame as an actor, director and philanthropist. Though he and
Barbra Streisand never performed together on screen, they made
Hollywood history together in 1969 with the formation of their
independent production company, "First Artists."
Hollywood
Any casual
movie fan knows of Paul Newman's prolific career. He was nominated for
an Oscar an amazing ten times but only actually won the competitive
race once. In 1987, Newman was awarded Best Actor for his role in "The
Color of Money." The Academy did, however present Newman the year
before with an honorary Oscar for his overall body of work. And in
1994, Newman was the recipient of the
Jean
Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Newman also directed.
In fact, in 1968, he directed his wife, Joanne Woodward to an Oscar
nomination for the film "Rachel, Rachel." Alas for Team Newman,
Woodward lost out that year to a Hollywood newcomer named Barbra
Streisand.
First Artists
Paul Newman's
career intersected with Barbra's in 1969. They didn't perform together
in front of the cameras. Rather, their professional relationship took
place in a corporate boardroom. With a desire to produce more
independent minded films, Barbra, Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier
joined forces to create their own production company called
First Artists.
Each partner took full advantage of their new business venture and
released some of their most successful films. For Newman, his big
payday came with the First Artists film, "The Life and Times of
Judge Roy Bean." For Barbra, First Artists released "A Star Is
Born" which quickly established itself as the biggest-grossing
Streisand picture up to that point.
Politics
Paul Newman
was active politically. In 1968, he grabbed headlines and ruffled a
few feathers in the White House with his public support for
presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. He landed on Richard Nixon's
Enemies List, a distinction he shared with Barbra Streisand and
others. Regarding Nixon's Enemies List, Newman later said that
it was "the
highest single honor I've ever received."
A long
time resident of Connecticut, Newman remained politically involved
right 'till the very end. In 2006, Newman supported Connecticut's
democratic senatorial candidate who ran against Joe Lieberman. And in
the current presidential race, Newman threw his initial support behind
Connecticut's Senator Chris Dodd in his bid for the White House.
Philanthropy
In 1982. Paul
Newman established a line of food products marketed under the brand,
"Newman's Own." Most know of Newman's Salad Dressing or maybe even his
popcorn, but perhaps unknown to some is the fact that all net proceeds
from the sale of "Newman's Own" foods is contributed to various
charities and institutions. To date, Paul Newman, through "Newman's
Own" has contributed over $200 million. One particular beneficiary of
Newman's ongoing philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp,
a facility based in Connecticut for seriously ill children which
Newman himself |
