Paul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes,
achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken
heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as "The
Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy" and the "Sundance Kid, The
Verdict, The Color of Money," and "Nobody's Fool." But Newman was
also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared
about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the
staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made
philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool.
The son of a successful entrepreneur, Newman grew up in a
prosperous Cleveland suburb. Despite fears that he would fail to
live up to his father's expectations, Newman bypassed the family
sporting goods business to pursue an acting career. After
struggling as a theater and television actor, Newman saw his star
rise in a tragic twist of fate, landing the role of boxer Rocky
Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me" when James Dean was killed
in a car accident. Though he would joke about instances of
"Newman's luck" throughout his career, he refused to coast on his
stunning boyish looks and impish charm. Part of the original Actors
Studio generation, Newman demanded a high level of rigor and
clarity from every project. The artistic battles that nearly
derailed his early movie career would pay off handsomely at the box
office and earn him critical acclaim.
He applied that tenacity to every endeavor both on and off the set.
The outspoken Newman used his celebrity to call attention to
political causes dear to his heart, including civil rights and
nuclear proliferation. Taking up auto racing in midlife, Newman
became the oldest driver to ever win a major professional auto
race. A food enthusiast who would dress his own salads in
restaurants, he launched the Newman's Own brand dedicated to fresh
ingredients, a nonprofit juggernaut that has generated more than
$250 million for charity.
In "Paul Newman: A Life," film critic and pop culture historian
Shawn Levy gives readers the ultimate behind-the-scenes examination
of the actor's life, from his merry pranks on the set to his
lasting romance with Joanne Woodward to the devastating impact of
his son's death from a drug overdose. This definitive biography is
a fascinating portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who gave
back as much as he got out of life and just happened to be one of
the most celebrated movie stars of the twentieth century.
"From the Hardcover edition."
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