Newman, who retired in 2006 after a great career of half a century, was pronounced dead on Friday 26 September in his home in Westport, Connecticut. Despite attempts to minimize the severity of his illness early on, it was understood that the actor/driver/entrepreneur had been stuggling with terminal cancer all year. After quitting chemotherapy in August, Newman's health deteriorated quickly and resulted in his death on the 26th of September.
The Actor
Paul Newman, born and raised near Cleveland, Ohio, was attracted to acting from the age of seven. After graduating, he moved to Chicago to pursure a career in theatre. He also married his first wife Jackie Witte. He had his first success in film in 1956 with “Somebody Up There Likes Me”. In the sixties, he acquired world fame due to his performances in box office hits like “Exodus” (1960), “The Hustler” (1961), “Cool Hand Luke” (1964) and most-famously “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), arguably one of the greatest westerns of all time.
Despite several awards and nominations, he won his one and only Oscar in 1986 with “The Color of Money”. He continued his career as an actor for another twenty years and appeared in several other Hollywood features.
The Racer
Newman, an avid motorsports fan, started racing sports cars in 1972. He was most successful in endurance races and achieved a couple of respectable results in the seventies and eighties. Although being usually regarded as a Nissan driver, he finished second in the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 935. It was however in 1995, at the age of 70, that Newman had his biggest racing success by winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTS class.
Paul Newman is perhaps more famous for his racing team Newman-Haas Racing, a team he founded with fellow racing driver Carl Haas in 1983. The team is one of the all-time greats in CART/Champ Car, winning 105 races and eight titles (1984 Mario Andretti, 1991 Michael Andretti, 1993 Nigel Mansell, 2002 Christiano Da Matta, 2004-2007 Sébastien Bourdais). It is now active in the IndyCar World Series as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, with drivers Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal.
The Entrepreneur
In 1982, Paul Newman founded Newman's Own, a food company. The company's profits are donated to charity and health support, including cancer projects. Ironically it is the same disease that brings an end to the life of an American icon. More than as an actor and a racer, Paul Newman will be remembered as a truly generous and passionate man. Newman is survived by his second wife Joanne Woodward and five children. UpdateF1 and UpdateSport would like to offer their sincere condolences to family and relatives.
Written by Filip Cleeren on Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:25:49
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