Cool Hand’s roots: Paul Newman delves into his Jewishness in memoir
HIS SMOULDERING good looks and piercing blue eyes made him an instantly recognisable screen idol — yet the private Paul Newman remained remarkably little known to the outside world.
Now the inner life and thoughts of the film star who died aged 81 in 2008 are about to be revealed with the upcoming publication of his memoir, which will address his Jewish roots.
The book, to be released next year, is based on transcripts found in the basement of the Newman family home in Connecticut. The star was interviewed when he was in his early seventies by his screenwriter friend Stewart Stern, who also spoke to the star’s family members, colleagues in the film industry and others who knew him. The majority of the book, which will be published in the US by Knopf, will take the form of a memoir using Newman’s words, with the remainder featuring Stern’s interviews.
Writer Peter Gethers was given the task by the Newman family of turning the thousands of pages transcripts into a cohesive book. In it the actor will talk about his relationships, his problems with drinking, as well as his childhood.
Newman’s father came from a German-Jewish family and his mother was Catholic.
In later life, Newman identified as a Jew, explaining it was “because I find it more challenging”.
Gethers told The Times: “One of the things I thought was interesting, and
he’s both very honest and funny about it, is that he’s half-Jewish.
“He had trouble coming to grips with that when he was young and then fully embraced his Jewish identity.”
The book will cover a film career that includes Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Hustler, The Sting and Exodus, the epic 1960 drama about the creation of the State of Israel.
Gethers said: “What he recorded, and in essence what he wrote, was so honest and revealing.
“It showed this extraordinary arc, a guy who was very, very flawed at the beginning of his life and as a young man, but who, as he got older, turned into the Paul Newman we want him to be.
“He recalls things that don’t put him in a great light but he doesn’t hold back.”