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.
I guess he really knew how to channel his Inner Loser.
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.
I should have added that the only caveat to his helping us was that we not make a big deal of it at the time. He asked what we really needed, picked the most useful thing and took care of it without fuss. Quite unlike RobertmorallybankruptfuckhimBlake, who wreaked havoc and destruction trying to use us as a career boost.
I guess he really knew how to channel his Inner Loser.
I always got the sense that he had an undeservedly low self-image and those roles were his way of telling the truth as he saw it. Which is what made them so much more powerful.
