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HeroVet:
Paul Newman 
A
Legacy of Film, Family and Philanthropy
By
Roy Asfar,
Special to Veterans Advantage
 When WWII Navy Veteran Paul Newman died on September 26, tributes came from as far away as Iran as well as from Hollywood colleagues, many of whom wondered how such a global star, solid family man, businessman and philanthropist could defy many of the leading Hollywood conventions and stereotypes.
Thankfully, for the many kids with cancer who benefited from over $250 million of Newman donations, he did, leaving an extraordinary legacy beyond his amazing Hollywood career, as he passed on the after-tax profits of his company, Newman's Own, the spaghetti sauce, popcorn and lemonade empire he founded and built on the slogan "Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good".
The 10-time Academy Award
nominee died peacefully, surrounded by family and
close friends at his Westport, CT farmhouse following
a long battle with cancer, publicist Jeff Sanderson
said Saturday. Choosing a farmhouse in the quiet
East Coast suburb of Westport, instead of the glitz & glamour
of Los Angeles, Paul Leonard Newman, known as "PL" to
friends, appeared in more than 50 movies, including "Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof," "Butch Cassidy and
the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting." He
earned nine Oscar nominations for acting and won
the best actor award for 1986's "The Color of
Money."
A director and race car
driver as well as a legendary actor, Newman was known
for his extensive philanthropy. He created the highly
successful Newman's Own
food products, which contributed more than $250 million
in profits to thousands of charities worldwide, including
HELP USA, which helps the homeless to become and remain
self-reliant, and The Canary Foundation, dedicated
to the research and development of technologies and
techniques to detect cancer early. "Our father
was a rare symbol of selfless humility, the last to
acknowledge what he was doing was special," his
daughters said in a written statement. "Intensely
private, he quietly succeeded beyond measure in impacting
the lives of so many with his generosity."
 Taking a Dramatic Turn After Service
Paul Leonard Newman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio,
on January 26, 1925, the son of a sporting goods storeowner.
He enlisted in the Navy after graduating from high
school, but was rejected for pilot training because
of color blindness. He fulfilled his three-year tour
of duty aboard torpedo bombers in the South Pacific
as a radioman third class. After his discharge from
the Navy, he attended Kenyon College on an athletic
scholarship. When an injury ended his aspirations for
a career in sports, he turned to drama, joining a summer
stock company.
After the death of his father,
he took over the sporting-goods store. He grew restless,
however, sold his interest in the store to his brother,
and enrolled at the Yale School of Drama. "I wasn't driven to acting
by any inner compulsion," he told a reporter. "I
was running away from the sporting goods business."
Newman worked with some
of the greatest directors of the past half-century,
a group that included Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston,
Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.
His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall,
Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert
Redford, his sidekick in "Butch
Cassidy" and "The Sting." "There
is a point where feelings go beyond words," Redford
said Saturday. "I have lost a real friend. My
life — and this country — is better for
his being in it."
Elizabeth Taylor, who co-starred
with Newman in "Cat
on a Hot Tin Roof," offered emotional comments. "I
loved that man with all my heart. He was goodness and
kindness and pure integrity," she said in a statement. "Knowing
him, being his friend, was as golden as the sunset
and a privilege I'll never forget."
During a class break, he headed
to New York, where he won a role in the CBS television
drama, "The Aldrich Family." He was also
accepted to study at the famed New York Actors' Studio,
where his classmates included Marlon Brando, James
Dean and Karl Malden. His intense good looks combined
with obvious talent won him several other television
roles. In 1953, his first appearance on Broadway, as
Alan Seymour in William Inge's "Picnic," garnered
him a measure of acclaim, and opened up the gates of
Hollywood.
Signed to a contract with Warner
Brothers, he made his film debut the following year
in a costume epic called "The Silver Chalice." Personally
embarrassed by the movie, Newman took out a full-page
ad in one of the trade papers to apologize for his
performance, which he considered awful.
Box Office Draw
 After
returning to Broadway to star in "The Desperate
Hours," his career got a major boost in his next
celluloid role, "Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956),
which drew critical raves for his portrayal of the
boxer Rocky Graziano. His developing screen persona
of a smoldering, volatile ne'er-do-well in such
works as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958), "The
Long Hot Summer" (1958), and "Sweet Bird
of Youth" (1962) riveted audiences and marked
him as not only an A list picture actor but a matinee
idol as well.
Avoiding typecasting, he
also starred as the aspiring pool champion in "The Hustler" (1961),
the sexually predatory "Hud" (1963), and
the prisoner in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967).
His title role in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid" (1969), in which he co-starred with Robert
Redford, crowned his achievement as one of the top
box office draws of the decade.
Among his other notable
films are "The Sting" (1973),
in which he also played opposite Redford; "The
Drowning Pool" (1975), an offbeat whodunit; "Slap
Shot" (1977), one of the few movies ever made
about ice hockey; and "The Verdict" (1982),
in which he played an alcoholic lawyer attempting to
make a comeback.
On-screen success opened other
doors and made him a force in Hollywood, even though
he chose not to live there. With fellow artists Barbra
Streisand, Sidney Poitier, and Steve McQueen, he founded
First Artists, a film production company in 1969. He
also made his mark on the other side of the camera: He
directed his second wife, Joanne Woodward, in the 1968
film "Rachel, Rachel," nominated for
an Academy Award as Best Picture and
garnering him the Best Director award from the
New York Film Critics Circle. He was given an honorary
Oscar for Career Achievement in 1985 before finally
winning the gold for his performance as aging pool
shark "Fast Eddie" Felson in Martin Scorsese's
1986 film, "The Color of Money."
Aging did not set his career
back. As he neared his 70th birthday, he continued
to win raves – and
his ninth nomination as Best Actor – in Robert
Benton's "Nobody's Fool" (1994).
In 2002, he portrayed an Irish mafia boss
in the Sam Mendes' "Road to Perdition" with
Tom Hanks.
Social Activism
But Paul Newman has been more than
a terrific actor, an inspiring director, an all-around
success on the silver screen. He has established a
reputation for his social conscience, devoting himself
to a variety of good works. He established the anti-drug
Scott Newman Foundation to honor one of his six children,
Scott, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 1978,
He and second wife Joanne Woodward, one of the most
enduring and stable of celebrity marriages, built The
Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children with cancer
and other life-threatening blood disorders.
The camp is one of the beneficiaries
of the profits from "Newman's Own," a
supremely successful line of food products – salad
dressing, spaghetti sauce, lemonade, salsa, popcorn – which
since it was started in 1982 has earned more than $250
million, all of which he has donated to charity. (He
once quipped that he was a bit embarrassed that his
salad dressing was grossing more than his movies.)
In 1994, Newman's
philanthropic activities were acknowledged by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which
presented him with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian
Award.
About ‘Newman's
Own'
It was 1982 when Paul Newman and his longtime friend, author A. E. Hotchner, decided to start a company with a charitable mission, at that time an unconventional business model. Newman and Hotchner had earlier started the tradition of filling wine bottles with homemade dressing as Christmas gifts for friends. "More! We want more!" their friends clamored. Newman and Hotchner decided that if the dressing was good enough for their pals, it was good enough for the public. So they initiated a unique business venture - Newman's Own - with the mission of donating 100% of the profits to those in need.
Newman's Own began with $40,000 and was tested
by pals in Newman's kitchen. Products were critiqued
around his ping-pong table and then sold directly to
grocery stores. According to the food industry experts
at the time, the operation should have lost $1 million
in the first year. But after 12 months of business,
what started as a joke ended up giving close to $1
million to charity.
Newman attributes the extraordinary
success of his company to two policies. First, he
insists on top quality, all-natural products with
no added preservatives. Second, he gives all after-tax
profits to charities both in the United States and
abroad. Newman's Own is
about eating good food and doing good at the same time.
The first Newman's Own product was the now famous
Oil & Vinegar Dressing. In the 20+ years since
its launch, the brand expanded product offerings to
include a collection of salad dressings, pasta sauces,
salsas, popcorn, lemonade, and steak sauce. In 1993
the business expanded to include Newman's daughter,
Nell, when she created a line of organic food products
called Newman's Own Organics.
One of thousands of charities
that have received donations from Newman's Own holds a special place in the
heart of the company. The Hole-In-The-Wall Gang Camp
was founded in 1986 when Hotchner and Newman dedicated
funds from Newman's Own to create a special place
for children with cancer. The camp welcomes 1,000 kids,
free of charge, from across the United States and abroad
every summer. It is here that children with cancer
or serious blood diseases find camaraderie, joy, and
a renewed sense of childhood.
Today, Newman's Own
products are available in all major retail chains
in the United States, Canada, Australia, Iceland,
England, Germany, Israel, and Japan.
Newman is survived by his wife of 50 years Joanne
Woodward, five daughters, two grandsons, and his older
brother, Arthur. Newman also had a son Scott, who died
in 1978, and is the motivating force behind another
Newman foundation, tasked with preventing Drug Abuse
through education.
SOURCE: Wire service reports,
and Newman's own
Web site, www.newmansown.com
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