Newman as family man and regular guy
By David Mirsky

Woodward and Newman

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/28/08 – The last time I saw Paul Newman, it became clear how regular a guy he was. It was in the late 1970’s, in the spring in Beverly Hills, PL (as he was known by in racing circles) was washing his silver Porsche in the front yard of this Tudor house on Beverly Drive. I was running an errand for his then agent, Sue Mengers, to pick up some screening tickets from him. Incidentally, those tickets eventually became mine somehow. When I approached PL, he asked me, as if we had been friends for years, to help him rinse the soap from his Porsche…my job was to turn the hose on, which I gladly did…hell, I was hanging out with Paul Newman.
We worked well together….I turned a little knob left and right, and he made sure there was no soap residue left on the car. For a brief moment, he disappeared into the house, returning moments later with a couple of beers in his hand, handing one to me.
I then realized that I had to cut this short, I had to get back to work. But before I had to force myself away from this scene, I reminded PL that it was me, who just a few years earlier, had sold him his very first Nomex racing suit from Vilem B. Haan, a shop specializing in racing gear, and higher end car accessories in Century City, near Beverly Hills. “Oh yeah, that was you”? I honestly don’t know if he remembered me, but the way he responded, I still, to this day, swear he did remember me.
He was one of the most un-affected super-star actors I have ever met, and I have met my fair share with the likes of Cary Grant, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Laurence Olivier, etc. He was a superstar…you knew it, but he really didn’t care. He would never give his autograph to anyone, he didn’t believe in that. He was a man you would really want to spend your Saturday afternoons shooting the breeze with. He wanted to be that guy, and from what I know of him, he was. PL, was a man’s man….he didn’t talk about it, he did it. He never gave you a bad performance as an actor, he never slacked off when he was racing cars, and he was tireless and generous with his charities, having raised several hundreds of millions of dollars. He had even involved his entire family with his philanthropic works.
We loved him in just about everything we saw him in…Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Hustler, The Verdict, Cool Hand Luke, Slap Shot, Hud, The Color of Money, just to name a few. He never gave you a bad performance; he respected his craft and never forgot those early days in New York as a struggling actor.
PL made those around him get involved, as he led by example. When his son died, Newman didn’t hide, he created a charity, hoping to educate public, so others wouldn’t have to go through losing a child via drugs. He attacked the problem with education. He was also a sportsman, owning a Championship Indy Car racing team, as well as being a skilled driver himself. Many racing experts said that PL would have been a top professional driver if he pursued the sport, that’s how good he was. And of course, his family…his lovely daughters, all who have a sense of duty, and continue to carry on his charitable causes: NEWMAN’S OWN has developed into a major company with dozens of popular products. Then there’s Joanne Woodward, a megastar in her own right, married to Paul for fifty years. They worked on many projects together, and seldom were seen without the other. The Newman’s are proof that Hollywood power marriages can and do survive. Through the ups and downs of their individual life and careers, they persevered, contradicting the stereotypical Hollywood couples.
At 83, PL passed away at his Connecticut home on Friday, with his wife, children and other family members by his side. He lost the cancer battle he fought this past year, and that’s a shame. We lost a true American icon. We lost a great humanitarian. We lost one of the greatest actors of our time. We lost a beautiful man. I was fortunate to have met this man, it proved to me that people like Paul Newman do exist…and yes, the good do die young…too young. RIP PL.