That news bums me out.

Newman was a fellow Kenyon College alum and returned there fairly often to support the school. The summer I spent there working on the grounds crew, he and Joanne were around town as she played in Hayfever with the Kenyon Festival Theater. You'd see him around town all the time. He helped the school fund a new theater and directed the first production there.

Aside from that connection, he seemed like the last star to really come out of the studio system. I can't really think of another great movie star after him that had such iconic roles in black and white films as he did with The Hustler and Hud.

Early on he was a great movie star and leading man. Later, he really became a fine, subtle, complex actor. I think his best performance was in The Verdict - an underrated movie that still lingers in my memory. He was also excellent in Nobody's Fool.

And, you know, he seemed like such a mensch.

I loved his performance in Nobody's Fool. That's the kind of old man I want to be.

If it weren't for Paul Newman, the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament would never have made it from LA to DC. When the parent organization (which promised us Club Med across America on foot) went toes up, the state would not let us move our camp without our own sanitation services.

Newman gave us the money to build the porta-potties that served us well for 3742 miles and the funds to buy a 'honey wagon.'

He saved us. And given his renowned scatological humor, it always seemed appropriate that he helped us get our shit together.

Bless him.

And Joanne, who directed a one woman play called The Depot, starring Shirley Knight as a suburban woman who dedicates her life to nuclear disarmament.

They are both noble folk.

bonny, that is so cool! I love hearing about people who made good and insist on giving back in meaningful ways with personal attention, not just throwing money at things hoping they'll go away.

Whoops! Finger too quick on the trigger.

and let's not forget his sauces and dressings. Paul Newman's Own is delicious stuff and proceeds go to charity, so even more delectable.

I think his best performance was in The Verdict - an underrated movie that still lingers in my memory.

Can't be said enough. this is the one he should have won the Oscar for.

Sad now.

I think his best performance was in Slap Shot (seriously, there's just so much there in that one), but my favorite will always be The Sting.

I kind of want to rewatch Twilight, but I know my spouse hated it as much as I loved it.

I think his best performance was in Slap Shot

Great movie, and a great performance. True dat. As Manohla Dargis' obit noted, he started to specialize in late-life fuckups around then. Which is a little odd considering (a) he was a viable movie star for way longer than just about anybody and (b) he was very successful at a number of things besides acting.

I think one of the tricks to both his success and his longevity once he hit middle age, was that he was never afraid to play his age, but at the same time, was never afraid to portray characters not acting their age.

It was such a contradiction and I imagine, damned hard to pull off for anyone not as talented and as comfortable in their own skin as he was.