Posted on September 27, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
The CNN.com top crawl notes that Paul Newman passed away today at 83. No deep thoughts here, except to say, what a good actor and what a decent man. So long, Butch Cassidy.
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Great actor, and – as E.E. Knight commented – great salad dressing.
Seriously, though, he left behind a body of work that really is a cause for celebration.
And frankly, I’d have been better off watching a Paul Newman marathon rather than that lackluster debate last night.
RIP
And Newman’s Own has contributed over $250 million to charitable causes – he leaves behind a lasting memento (besides his films)
He lived a long, full, and very diverse life.
He leaves a huge legacy and a great model for other stars to follow. He will be greatly missed on this fragile earth.
Wow. No more Paul Newman? He seemed like a permanent fixture to me–one of the easily recognisable famous stars of both my youth (where he was in that gambling movie with Tom Cruise) and my parents youth. I have never seen Butch Cassidy but I did see the Sting
Oh, and the Hudsucker Proxy. Maybe I’ll watch that tonight. (Not owning the other classic Newman movies, for whatever reason.)
Great article on Slate.
Great actor, good and decent man. RIP Mr Newman.
I’d like to celebrate another side of Paul Newman – his love for and success at motor sports. I had the good fortune to see him win an SCCA race in his Bob Sharp-prepared Datsun 510, before he had to set aside driving. Sure, he had good equipment, but he drove well, too. Somehow he found time to learn another skill, and as with acting, he mastered it.
He went on to team ownership and considerable success at Indy and elsewhere. What strikes me is that he had many interests, and success in all of them.
Loved “The Verdict” (own it in fact). He ~should~ have won the Oscar for that (vs. The Color of Money), oh well.
Goodnight funny man!
Amen.
Wow, such a constant figure in the world, and so respected in my heart that tears jumped to my eyes when I saw the announcement. He will be missed.
Three words, ” Cool Hand Luke”.
A truly lovely bloke in his own right, in addition to his varied talents. 83’s not a bad innings – but it just plain sucks that folk have to die. Hell of a legacy. And reading that Slate article makes me want to be a better person, just knowing that someone like Newman lived.
Whoa. In ignoring the news — too many repeats of the same “analysis” for my taste after a while — one does miss new news items. I don’t recall every seeing Paul Newman in a dud of a film. Indeed it is much more the converse, Newman giving one great performance after another and yet totally generous in making his co-stars have their room, too.
In the weeks after 9/11, while we waited for another shoe to drop and burned out on coverage, there came a day when I bought a new DVD on the way home so we could turn away from having news on all the time. It was The Sting. Mission accomplished. Entertained and the cycle of news-and-doom broken.
Thank you, Mr. Newman.
Dr. Phil
He was smiling… That’s right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. Hell, if they didn’t know it ‘fore, they could tell right then that they weren’t a-gonna beat him. That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he’s a natural-born world-shaker.
R.I.P. Paul. You were a natural-born world-shaker.
It would have been cool if he choked on popcorn.
Ah, damn.
I’m friends with someone involved with “Nobody’s Fool” and, when his family visited the set of “Nobody’s Fool,” Newman was gracious and generous to them, taking time beyond that which might be expected of a Hollywood star to show them around and talk with them. A class act onscreen and off. He will be missed.
This makes me sadder than I would have imagined.
I normally don’t really get that worked up when celebrities die, but…
Luke is dead. Damn.
A tragic but not wholly unexpected loss. I hope Newman’s Own will go on.
Lawn Wigga, why don’t you do so in his honor?
it’s hard not to admire Paul Newman for putting his money to work in such productive ways, such as his Newman’s Own line–high quality stuff and the proceeds go to good causes… very smart.