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Paul Leonard Newman left the Yale Drama School to come to NY in the early 50s. He did live TV and theater, before he launched his feature film career with a Hollywood movie that almost ended his career before it began.
(1954) The Silver Chalice - This Roman epic was so bad that Newman took out a full page ad in Variety to apologize for it.
(1956) Somebody Up There Likes Me - He redeemed himself quickly with his much-lauded performance as Rocky Graziano.
(1958) The Long, Hot Summer - After working with her on Broadway, Joanne Woodward co-starred with Newman in director Martin Ritt's adaptation of Faulkner stories, and the chemistry was palpable. They were married soon after.
(1958) The Left Handed Gun - James Dean was originally cast as Billy the Kidd by Strasberg studio acolyte Arthur Penn, but Newman got the part after Dean's tragic death. The "actor's studio" method style is all over this western, but its a great performance. It also set the tone for the definitive Newman role: the handsome, tragic anti-hero.
(1958) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Newman got his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of "Brick" in this overwrought Tennessee Williams adaptation.
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Paul Newman was now a "movie star" and would remain one for the next 50 years.
(1960) Exodus - Preminger hired blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for this picture. It's bloated and dated, but still moving... especially the stirring score.
(1961) The Hustler (Academy Award nom, Golden Globe nom) - Newman created an iconic role in this modern greek tragedy, one of the best films of his long career. 25 years later, he would finally win an Oscar for the sequel.
(1962) Sweet Bird of Youth - Newman got a GG nomination for another Tennesee Williams role.
(1963) Hud - director Ritt was surprised with the audience's embracing of Newman's "Hud" character, who was intended as a villian. But Newman radiates a heroic glow, even while doing despicable things. Like his unearthly blue eyes, it is a hallmark of his persona. He got both AA & GG noms.
(1963) A New Kind of Love - nothing special, except as one of the series of lame romantic comedies he did with his wife.
(1966) Harper - good, hard-boiled detective movie.
(1966) Torn Curtain - bad Hitchcock.
(1967) Hombre - a sizzling western, with Newman as a half-breed who martyrs himself for undeserving whites. Based on an Elmore Leonard novel, one of the most interesting Ritt/Newman collaborations.
(1967) Cool Hand Luke - a defining performance, Newman is once again martyred for our social sins. "what we have here is a failure to communicate"? I don't think so. He again got both AA & GG noms, but didn't win.
At this point, Newman was amongst the top box office performers in the world, and he was using his clout to make pictures that mattered to him, with a social message he endorsed. Meanwhile, he was campaigning for Eugene McCarthy.
(1968) Rachel, Rachel - in his first directorial effort, he directed his wife to an AA nomination and a GG award; he picked up a GG himself.
(1969) Winning - Not a great movie, but it launched his interest in race car driving, which was part of his life for many years. He did his own driving in the movie.
(1969) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Butch Cassidy - the team of Newman & Redford launched this movie into the stratosphere. Still a great picture.
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End of the end of the 60's, Newman was amongst the biggest stars in the world, and had been successful behind the camera as well. He could do no wrong... but then the 70s creeped in.
(1970) WUSA - Newman co-produced this heavy-handed political screed about a right-wing radio station in the south. It's pretty much unwatchable.
(1971) Sometimes a Great Notion - Newman starred, directed & co-executive produced this failed adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel about loggers in the northwest.
(1972) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean - John Huston directed this great movie, one of my all-time favorites, and a cult movie now, but not a hit at the time.
(1973) The Mackintosh Man - however, Huston's next project with Newman, this minor thriller, is distinctly less interesting, despite a script by Walter Hill.
(1973) The Sting - George Roy Hill's follow up to BUTCH CASSIDY reteams Redford and Newman in another great movie, with its memorable Scott Joplin score. It was Newman's first hit in a while.
(1974) The Towering Inferno - the big daddy of disaster movies teamed movie icons Newman and McQueen. One of the biggest grossers ever, restablishing Newman at the top of the Hollywood food chain.
(1975) The Drowning Pool - another "Harper" detective movie, but this one is not particularly good, nor successful.
(1976) Buffalo Bill and the Indians - his first picture with Robert Altman was a critical and commercial misfire.
(1977) Slap Shot - this over-the-top Hockey comedy is a cult classic for its vulgar brutality, but it was a flop in its day.
(1979) Quintet - another Altman film, this futuristic contemplation of existentialism was a bomb of megalithic proportions.
(1980) When Time Ran Out... - after a string of bombs, Newman goes for the gold with another Irwin Allen disaster movie... which only proved to be another disaster.
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At the end of the 70s, Newman's career was clearly waning, his only son had died of an overdose, and Reagan was president. It was time for him to take a new direction. He started a foundation in his son's name to do charitable work, and, in 1982, started a food company for that purpose. He also started doing more interesting films.
(1980) The Shadow Box - He directed his wife in this TV adaption of the Michael Cristofer play, garnering an Emmy nomination.
(1981) Fort Apache the Bronx - this tough-minded cop movie showed an aging, world-weary Newman for the first time. And it worked.
(1981) Absence of Malice - Newman got yet another AA nomination in this slightly overrated drama. But it was another success.
(1982) The Verdict - Newman's personal tragedies and demons prepared him for one of the best roles of his life, written by David Mamet. He got AA and GG noms, but lost out that year to Ben Kingsley's GHANDI.
(1984) Harry & Son - Newman was the "auteur" here (actor, writer, director & producer), but this clearly personal story of a failed father and son relationship was derailed by an awful Robbie Benson performance and the movie disappeared without a trace.
(1986) The Color of Money - Newman finally won an Academy Award for his return as Fast Eddie Felson, opposite Tom Cruise, in this slick Scorsese sequel to THE HUSTLER. While it was a great performance, it seems more of a "make good" Oscar for his career, like John Wayne's Oscar for "True Grit".
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At the end of the 1980s, Newman had re-established his box office credentials and started garnering the awards and acclaim of the critical establishment, which had earlier in his career dismissed him as a pretty boy method actor who was not quite as good as Brando. He was aging gracefully, becoming the character actor he'd always wanted to be.
(1990) Mr. and Mrs. Bridge - he continued his critical huzzahs with this dull-as-dirt Merchant IVory film with his wife, who received a bucketful of nominations.
(1994) The Hudsucker Proxy - some people really like this Coen brothers homage to Capra. I'm not among them.
(1994) Nobody's Fool - Newman's last hurrah as a leading man got him another set of AA & GG noms. Writer/Director Robert Benton's comic, moving contemplation of small town life (like his earlier PLACES IN THE HEART) is one of Newman's best.
(2002) Road to Perdition - His last great screen role, Newman got AA and GG noms (Supporting Actor) for playing an old Irish mobster opposite Tom Hanks. Its a pretty good adaptation of an excellent graphic novel.
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Over the last 5 years of his career, he did mostly TV work, animation voiceovers (Pixar's CARS), and a last hurrah on the NY stage, too, where he finally won a Tony for his production of OUR TOWN, as well as an Emmy nomination for its subsquent TV adaptation. He also got a nomination as producer and actor of Tv miniseries EMPIRE FALLS.
Though he officially retired from acting in 2007, his charitable work continues on. It is estimated he has given something in the neighborhood of $175m to his various charitable endeavors. Pretty heroic stuff, for an anti-hero.
So long, Paul, and thanks for all the fish.
MY TOP 10:
LEFT-HANDED GUN
THE HUSTLER
HOMBRE
COOL HAND LUKE
BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID
LIFE & TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN
THE STING
SLAPSHOT
THE VERDICT
NOBODY'S FOOL
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