Paul Newman
Fourteen years after his death, turns to our vintage cover stories, a new documentary and books—and the legend’s former co-stars—to help discover “the real Paul Newman.”
WParade ho doesn’t know Paul Newman? The man with the beautiful blue eyes, the chiseled face and body, the 50-plus years of memorable roles, the awards, the movie-star marriage. Well, it turns out, there is lots more to know, as revealed in a recent HBO Max documentary (The Last Movie Stars) about his marriage to Joanne Woodward and an upcoming posthumous memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man (Knopf ), out Oct. 18. The documentary was revelatory, says Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. “Newman and Woodward teach us that the last part of your life can be the best part of your life.”
Parade cover stories going back to 1969 are also revealing. They show a reluctant star, sometimes more interested in civil rights or racing cars than acting, and a loyal, sometimes cranky husband. And we’re learning Newman could be unpredictable. After working for five years with screenwriter Stewart Stern of Rebel Without a Cause fame on interviews with himself, Woodward, family, friends and artistic partners, Newman burned the tapes. (Luckily, the transcripts—used for the doc and the book—were not destroyed.) Why did he burn the tapes? Nobody knows, says Mankiewicz, but maybe “he thought, Nobody needs this arrogant actor talking about how great he is.” And, says Mankiewicz, laughing, “He also clearly liked setting things on fire,” remembering a moment in The Last Movie Stars where Newman is described torching some formalwear. “That was the other part. He had a little low-grade pyromania— burning the tuxedo in the driveway is pretty great.”
What else don’t we know about Paul Newman? Read on to find out.