Paul Newman: Great actor, better person

Paul Newman as lawyer Frank Galvin in the 1982 film "The Verdict".

Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/revisiting-sidney-lumets-the-verdict

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“This is the case, there is no other case. This is the case, there is no other case.”

There sat lawyer Frank Galvin, psyching himself up to go into court. He was set to do battle against a battery of lawyers representing, if you can imagine, the Roman Catholic Church in a wrongful death suit. Battling alcohol and other demons, it was make or break, not only for his career but his life.

Paul Newman played Frank Galvin in “The Verdict”, and would be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for his work.

It is my favourite Paul Newman film, but one of many outstanding efforts from the ‘80s and beyond.

The years before
Paul Newman got his start in movies in 1954 wih a role in “The Silver Chalice” in 1954. He played boxer Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me” in 1956, which became his breakthrough role. He also appeared in “The Rack” in 1956, winning the Golden Globe that year for New Star of the Year Actor, and was in “The Helen Morgan Story” and “Until They Sail” in 1957.

Newman’s career reached the next level in 1958. He starred in “The Long, Hot Summer”, winning Best Actor at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor for his starring role in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. He also played Billy the Kid in “The Left Handed Gun” and was in “Rally Round the Flag Boys”.

He went on to star in “The Young Philadelphians” in 1959, and “From the Terrace” and “Exodus” in 1960.

In 1961, he was in another iconic movie, playing pool player “Fast” Eddie Felson who takes on a legendary champion played by Jackie Gleason. The role earned Newman his second Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor Drama. He would reprise the role 25 years later. He also starred in “Paris Blues”.

In 1962, he was in “Sweet Bird of Youth”, where he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor Drama, and “Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man”, where he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Another great role came along in 1963 in “Hud” where Newman played the title character doing battle with his son over the future of their ranch. “Hud” garnered Newman his third Oscar nomination for Best Actor as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor Drama. He was also in “A New Kind of Love” and “The Prize”.

In 1964, he was in “What a Way to Go!” and “The Outrage”, then “Lady L” in 1965.

Then, in 1966, he starred in the first Paul Newman movie I ever rented on video.

Private eye
When I was about 12, I started really getting interested in spy and private detective novels and movies. That’s when I discovered, through a variety of sources, Ian Fleming’s James Bond, Donald Hamilton’s Matt Helm, John D. McDonald’s Travis McGhee, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, and more.

While I was in Brooks with my cousins one summer, I read about a private detective named Lew Archer, written by Ross McDonald, and how he had been played in the movies by Paul Newman. However, the name was changed to Lew Harper, because Newman had a great deal of luck with “H” movies, earning Oscar nominations for “The Hustler” and “Hud”.

I was staying with my sister in Lethbridge one night, and we decided to rent a movie. This would have been in 1983 or 1984. We ended up renting “Harper”. The scene I will always remember is when Harper wakes up and goes to put on coffee, he discovers he is out of grounds. He looks in the trash and sees a previous day’s filter and grounds. He looks at them, looks up, and scratches his head. In the next scene, he takes a sip of coffee and winces. It was pretty funny.

More pre-history
Newman was also in “Torn Curtain” in 1966, a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, about an American scientist, played by Newman, who appears to defect to the other side.

He started 1967 in “Hombre”. Later that year he was in “Cool Hand Luke”, playing a prisoner in a Florida prison camp. The role earned Newman his fourth Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor Drama.

In 1968 he was in “The Secret War of Harry Frigg”, then the car racing movie “Winning” in 1969. That same year another iconic role came calling.

Outlaws
In 1969, Newman teamed up with Robert Redford for the first time in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Based on actual historical characters, they play outlaws fleeing a posse after a string of robberies. Newman plays Butch Cassidy who, in real life, lived and worked part of his life in High River, not far from where I live.

This is another in a string of movies I watched as a child where I saw the first part, then fell asleep, and to this day have never seen all of.

The movie was a hit. It is also well known for the song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head”, by B.J. Thomas.

Much more pre-history
Newman started a new decade with “WUSA” in 1970, “Sometimes a Great Notion” in 1971, and “Pocket Money” in 1972.

In 1972, he was also in “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean”. This movie always seemed to be on Channel 13 of the peasant vision dial when I was growing up. For whatever reason, I always mixed it up with “Hud”, thinking “Hud” was a western. In “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean”, Newman plays the title character, an outlaw who appoints himself a judge in a lawless town in the Wild West.

Newman was in the spy thriller “The Mackintosh Man” in 1973, then another iconic role came calling.

Con men
The chemistry between Newman and Redford was undeniable in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, so they teamed up again in 1973. This time they play con men in “The Sting”, out to fleece a mobster and gain a measure of revenge at the same time. Redford plays small-time grifter Johnny Hooker who, with his partner Luther, fleeces the wrong guy. It turns out their big score is mob money, and the mobster sends his boys after Luther and Hooker. Luther gets killed, Hooker escapes, and vows revenge. He ends up seeking out Henry Gondorff, a legendary con man, to help him out.

The scene we first see Gondorff is priceless. Hooker goes into his room and sees him passed out, his face pressed against a wall, snoring.

“The great Henry Gondorff,” Hooker mutters.

It is an amazing movie I love as much as “The Verdict”. This was yet another movie I saw as a kid a few times, but always fell asleep part way through. “The Sting” was different though because, at Christmas time of 1997, I rented it with my friends Chris Vining and Corinne Zimmerman and watched it beginning to end. I have seen it a few other times since.

Redford was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor and Wikipedia reveals it rekindled Newman’s career after “a series of big-screen” flops.

Even more pre-history
In 1974, Newman was in the disaster pic “The Towering Inferno”. It focuses on a group of people trying to escape a high-rise building on fire. Newman plays the architect who designed the building.

He reprised his role as Lew Harper in “The Drowning Pool” in 1975; made a cameo as himself in “Mel Brooks’ “Silent Movie” in 1976; played Buffalo Bill Cody in “Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson”, also in 1976; and closed out the decade in 1979 with the post-apocalyptic science fiction film “Quintet”.

He also had another iconic role in 1977.

Goon hockey
It is a cult classic for a lot of hockey fans. In 1977, Paul Newman strapped on some blades to play Reg Dunlop, the player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, a hockey team in the Federal League in “Slap Shot”. With the town’s steel mill closing, layoffs looming, the team playing poorly, and fans growing increasingly hostile, Dunlop resorts to more goon hockey. He is aided in his endeavours by the Chiefs’ latest acquisition, the brawling Hanson brothers.

I always wanted to see this movie when I was young. My brother left behind the book when he went off to college. I read about half and wanted to see the movie. I waited and waited and waited. A year or so later it was on TV and I watched the first half hour or so when – my Mom made me go to bed. She said I could watch it another time. She didn’t understand, it wasn’t like it was on regularly. I actually heard how it ended from my sister the next day. It is funny looking back, because in today’s world of the Internet, on-demand and streaming services, I bet it would take five minutes to find “Slap Shot”.

Anyway, it was another great role for Newman, as he headed into his fourth decade of films, which would bring even more success.

Dawn of the decade
The 1980s began for Paul Newman with a role opposite William Holden and Jacqueline Bisset, in “When Time Ran Out…”, a disaster film in 1980 about a volcano threatening a Pacific Island resort.

In 1981, he was in “Fort Apache, The Bronx”, playing a veteran cop with a young partner, played by Ken Wahl. They were working in a rough part of the Bronx, when a new police captain arrives, played by Ed Asner.

Then, Newman began another string of movies that pretty much closed out the decade.

Absence of Malice
Newman played liquor wholesaler Michael Gallagher in “Absence of Malice” in 1981. He is the subject of a news story written by journalist Megan Carter, played by Sally Field, claiming he is under investigation for the disappearance of a union official. The story was leaked to Carter by an unscrupulous federal prosecutor seeking to get information from Gallagher.

Absence of malice is a concept used by journalists to show the conflict between disclosing damaging personal information and the public’s right to know.

My brother got the original pay TV around this time, and began to tape movies from one of the movie channels. One of the tapes he lent me had “Absence of Malice” on it. I recall watching it and loving it. There is undeniable chemistry between Newman and Sally Field too. Little did I know that almost 20 years later I would be studying this very concept when I went to journalism school.

The role earned Newman his fifth Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

The Verdict
I was home sick from school one day in 1982, when I first heard about “The Verdict” on “Canada AM”. Host Norm Perry was talking to a film critic about Paul Newman’s latest film and how this role might finally earn the Best Actor Oscar that eluded him.

It tells the story of Frank Galvin, a struggling, alcoholic lawyer who is given a sure-thing, no-lose case by his former partner. It is a malpractice suit against the Catholic Church and, as Galvin discovers, is no sure thing as the church has hired a team of highly-skilled lawyers. Initially, he seems to just be going through the motions, but when he meets the victims, he becomes committed to the cause.

Newman is absolutely amazing in this role, going from listless and uninterested, to the crusading passionate lawyer he obviously was in earlier years. He has always had this talent for wearing his emotions on his face, and that skill is on full display in this movie.

“The Verdict” ultimately did earn Newman his sixth Oscar nomination for Best Actor, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor Drama.

Oscar comes calling
Newman followed up “The Verdict” with “Harry and Son” in 1984. The film focused on a worker, played by Newman, and his relationship with his son, played by Robby Benson.

That year he was also awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

Around that time, there was also a lot of talk about how Newman never won an Oscar and it was his time. Consequently, in 1986 he was awarded an Honourary Oscar celebrating achievements not covered by existing Academy Awards. To some it seemed like a consolation prize, or an admission Newman would never win the Best Actor Oscar.

That same year, 1986, Newman reprised his role as “Fast Eddie” Felson in “The Color of Money”, a sequel to “The Hustler”. He starred opposite Tom Cruise.

Paul Newman would finally win that coveted award, winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in “The Color of Money”. He was also nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor Drama.

End of the decade
Newman closed out the 1980s with two more solid movies. He played General Leslie Groves, the military liaison for the Manhattan Project in “Fat Man and Little Boy” in 1989. It is the same character Matt Damon played in last year’s “Oppenheimer”. Also in 1989, he played Governor Earl K. Long, a politician who falls in love with a stripper, in “Blaze”.

The years after
Paul Newman kept right on working in the succeeding decades. He was in movies such as “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge”; “The Hudsucker Proxy”; and “Nobody’s Fool”.

I saw “Nobody’s Fool” in 1994 in the theatre with my friend Richard Ellis. There is one scene that stands out for me. Newman plays Sully, a man with a complicated life. He regularly hits on this waitress played by Melanie Griffin. Feeling really sad one night, he asks her if she wants to go back to his place.

She finally agrees.

“Don’t you have any pride?” he asks. It was hilarious.

Newman earned his seventh Oscar nomination for Best Actor for that role as Donald Sullivan, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor Drama.

He was also in “Twilight”; “Message in a Bottle”; “Where the Money Is”; and “Road to Perdition”, which was his last live acting role. He earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor, both for “Road to Perdition”.

In “Message in a Bottle”, he played Dodge Blake, father of grieving widower Garrett Blake, played by Kevin Costner. Newman is awesome as Costner’s dad, charming and stern, but loving and supportive. They also had great on-screen chemistry.

After that Newman lent his voice to various productions as a character and a narrator. 

He got more into television as well. Newman appeared in a production of “Our Town” in 2003; and the HBO miniseries “Empire Falls” in 2005. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor Television in 2005 for “Empire Falls”.

He did a great deal of producing and directing dating back to the ‘60s. He is work included “Rachel, Rachel”, for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Director in 1968; many of the movies he starred in; “The Shadow Box”, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special in 1980; “The Glass Menagerie”; and “Empire Falls”, where he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries.

He also had a number of other interests, including Newman’s Own food products, such as salad dressing, where proceeds went to charity; and race car driving, where he won several national championships in Sports Car Club of America road racing.

In 1994, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars; and that same year was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Paul Newman died on September 26, 2008.

He was 83 years old.

Parting thoughts
It is hard to fathom the career of Paul Newman. He had so many great movies, amazing roles, and outstanding moments. He has always been my favourite, and I distinctly remember mourning his death back in 2008.

Yet as I read more about him, I was taken aback at what kind of a person he was too. There are dozens and dozens of causes he has supported over the years. In one year alone, he donated more than $20 million to charity, and was voted the most generous celebrity.

Some people assume actors are exactly like the people they play on screen, while others assume they are the exact opposite. Some also assume actors are selfish, and self-absorbed.

Well, Paul Newman seemed to be one of those actors who was kind, generous and supportive of so many people in need.

It shows, as great an actor as he was, he was an even better human being.