George Maidrand

Seldom does a Hollywood heavyweight depart the scene with less pomp and more circumstance than did Paul Newman last week when he succumbed to cancer at age 83. The blue-eyed heart-throb of the 50s and 60s was an instant hit and became a mega star who extended a smoldering rebel personna career throughout a half century of memorable film performances. Starring vehicles such as "Hud", "Cool Hand Luke", "The Verdict", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Somebody Up There Likes Me", "The Hustler", "Sweet Bird of Youth" and "Long Hot Summer" will delight movie goers for decades to come. His elderly turn as a mob kingpin in 2002's "Road to Perdition" was a fitting bow to a storied career that ranked him alongside film legends John Wayne and James Stewart. And, like them, he was able to disassociate his spectacular career from his private life.
In both arenas he was estimably remarkable. He and actress Joanne Woodward forged a Hollywood oddity----a marriage that endured for 50 years. He lived a life that would have worn out a lesser man, discovering a passion for race cars and driving them successfully into his seventies. And he was a liberal activist in a non-intrusive way, noting you don't stop being a citizen just because you are an actor.
His greatest contribution was philanthropic. His line of "Newman's Own" grocery products gives every penny of earnings to charities. The figure so far is reputed to be in excess of $250,000 million.
Newman's greatness brings to mind a Shakeskpearian line from Julius Caesar: "This was a man. When comes such another?"