Paul Newman

Name: Paul Newman
Born: 26 January 1925
Where: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Died: 28 September 2008 (Aged: 83)
Height: 5' 9"
Awards: Won 1 Oscar, 1 BAFTA, 6 Golden Globes.

It was never easy for screen mega-stars to grow old gracefully and stay on top at the same time. Tied to the action genre, even clin eastwood began to look stale and a little frail, his body too old to convince us he was still a genuine tough guy. Robert Redford meanwhile, chained to his sex symbol image, chose to play only ladykillers, employing ever-softer focus to get away with it. Marlon Brando simply ignored the whole process.

There was, though, one old-school superstar who pulled it off without too much of a hitch. Where Eastwood waited for age to make him suitable for Unforgiven, and then slipped back into pretending he was far younger, Paul Newman recognised the passing of time, chose his roles carefully and stuck to his guns. Thus he was the only pretty-boy screen-god to retain the absolute respect of critics and public alike. This was why, in late age, he was Sam Mendes' first choice to play gangster John Rooney in Road To Perdition - because he would be wholly on the ball and not the least bit overshadowed by the presence of tom hanks or next-generation pretty-boy jude law. Indeed, they'd be more concerned that he would blow them off the screen. To the end, his talent and charisma meant he was one of the greatest film actors of all time.

He was born Paul Leonard Newman on the 26th of January, 1925, in Shaker Heights, an affluent suburb of Cleveland. His father, Arthur, was Jewish and ran a profitable sports goods store. His mother, Theresa (nee Fetzer), was Catholic and helped out in the shop, while raising Paul and his brother Arthur (later a producer and production manager). Young Paul was bright and good at sports. He also showed an early interest in theatre, something that Theresa encouraged. He made his acting debut at 7, as the court jester in a school production of Robin Hood.

Paul graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1943. He briefly attended Ohio University at Athens, but was expelled for (allegedly) crashing a keg of beer into the president's car. It was clear that young Newman was possessed of the same bravado and sense of mischief as one of his most famous characters - Lucas Jackson from Cool Hand Luke. For a while, he wandered, at one point selling Collier's Encyclopaedias door-to-door.

With the war on, he now tried to enlist in the Naval Air Corps, keen to serve as a pilot. Quickly, though, tests showed that those famous blue eyes were in fact blind to colour. Instead of gallantly strafing the foe, Newman had to be content as a radio operator on torpedo bombers in the South Pacific.