Death of an Idol

Paul Newman died yesterday. I cried today when I heard the news. He was a hero of mine since my adolescent eyes first meet his baby blues in The Silver Chalice. I must have been 13 or 14 years old and the 1955 movie was on our brand new color television. It was Paul's first big screen performance and the movie was not notable, but I knew the very moment I saw him on screen that I was in the presence of someone who would be long remembered. I continued to follow his career, watching older movies on television and the newer ones in the theater. I aged with Paul, even though he is almost three decades older than me. And how he did age, naturally, beautifully becoming such a distinguished older man. The last two roles that I admired him in were his performance as Kevin Costner's father in Message in a Bottle and the role of John Rooney in Road to Perdition. In between that first movie and his last, there were so many memorable moments. Here are just a few of mine, well worth watching, again and again.
The Color of Money (1986) .... Fast Eddie Felson
Absence of Malice (1981) .... Michael Colin Gallagher
Slap Shot (1977) .... Reggie 'Reg' Dunlop
The Sting (1973) .... Henry Gondorff
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) .... Butch Cassidy
Cool Hand Luke (1967) .... Luke
Hombre (1967) .... John Russell
Harper (1966) .... Lew Harper
Hud (1963) .... Hud Bannon
The Hustler (1961) .... Eddie Felson
Exodus (1960) .... Ari Ben Canaan
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) .... Brick Pollitt
The Long, Hot Summer (1958) .... Ben Quick

My admiration for Paul extended far beyond his ability as an actor. His long marriage to Joanne Woodward survived in part because they removed themselves from the superfluous environment of Hollywood. They raised their children in Connecticut and managed to stay out of the public eye. Paul also pursued other interests, outside of acting. His long time association with racing was something that I am sure gave him great satisfaction. He was a competent driver. And then there's his establishment of Newman's Own brand giving us all quality healthy foods with profits filtering to nonprofit organizations. I hope this business will be continued by his daughter Nell.

I am going to miss Paul Newman, with his bedroom blue eyes and grin that was wider than the big screen. His on and off screen legacy will be with us for a long time to come.