On Paul Newman

I suppose this is just my little, insignificant, unremarkable way of saying how much I appreciated Paul Newman. No, I did not know him nor did I ever see him on anything other than a screen, but after years of following an actor, admiring him, emulating him, eating his spaghetti sauce, working through his filmography, there is a sense of knowing – and when I received the text message at work earlier today from my brother filling me in on the news, I did feel as though I lost a friend of my own, as silly and clichéd as it may sound.

I credit Cool Hand Luke with being the first movie that really made me examine what was beyond the surface of a film and Newman’s portrayal of Luke Jackson is perfection defined. There is almost something divine about his performance. The Hustler. Hud. The Verdict. Road to Perdition. The Long Hut Summer. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Sting. Somebody Up There Likes Me. Hombre. Sweet Bird of Youth. The Young Philadelphians. Empire Falls. All of these are absolute favorite films of mine, many that I have countless times throughout the years. Exodus. Harper. Slap Shot. The Hudsucker Proxy. Nobody’s Fool. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Absence of Malice. Winning. From the Terrace. The Color of Money. The Towering Inferno. The Drowning Pool. The list goes on.

Hmm…

You can read about his life, his career, his philanthropy, and his accomplishments everywhere today, so I won’t go there. I will also refrain from getting sappy, because its not my style. I will keep it short and simple: Paul Newman was a class act, a hero in every sense of the word, someone that used his fame and fortune to make the world a better place, and in my opinion, the greatest actor that ever lived.

What more can I say?