Undoubtedly, everyone loved Paul Newman, the charismatic, blue-eyed actor who made most Hollywood actors green with envy. However, he felt ugly and, in addition to being an actor, suffered from the symptom of the imposter, despite the sixty roles he played in his 53-year career. The alcoholic star of the cinema blamed himself for the disappearance of his son, who died of an overdose. We find out in a new book revealing his memoirs.
“For a long time I thought I was a piece of shit,” the actor reveals in this biography, which is practically an autobiography. Paul Newman had recorded his statements in numerous interviews that his friend, the screenwriter Stewart Stern, conducted between 1986 and 1991. At the time, Newman wanted to publish his autobiography. But at the age of 66, after five years of recording testimony, he stopped the interviews because he no longer wanted a biography.
This is because the actor was very open about his vulnerability, confessing his infidelity and revealing his low self-esteem. By re-reading certain excerpts, he decides to give up the idea of revealing himself in broad daylight. However, a few years after his death in 2008, Stewart Stern, with the support of his family, decided to publish Newman's transcriptions.
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Emotions and moods
In this work, little is said about his career, his films or his characters. Rather, we evoke the actor's moods and his nervous emotions.
“I don’t think people who are too sensitive are equipped for this world,” says the actor.
His difficult childhood is also mentioned. He was born in 1925 and grew up in a suburb of Cleveland. He has a difficult relationship with his mother, who treats him like an object of beauty. He finds his father, who runs a sports shop, strict and rigid. He thinks his parents are unbalanced.
Since his childhood he showed great interest in theater.
During his youth he played theater in his free time and began studying art, which was interrupted by the Second World War and his enlistment in the US Navy.
Upon his return, he will study at the Actors Studio in New York after completing his Bachelor of Arts in Theater.
Paul Newman is aware of his beauty and is constantly reminded of it. He comes to believe that he is worthless as an actor and that he only gets roles because of his looks, believing himself to be a fraud in front of his colleagues and even his audience. He repeatedly denigrates his acting achievements. In addition, he was selected for the Oscars ten times without winning. It wasn't until 1987, at the age of 62, that his talent was recognized when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film The Color of Money, a sequel to the 1961 film The Impostor.
The death of his son also hit the actor very hard. “I certainly didn’t know how to excel as a parent,” Newman proclaims.
His eldest son Scott died of an overdose in 1978 at the age of 38.
“This grief and this guilt will never heal,” admits the actor, who will be forever devastated.
motor race
When he played a racing driver in the 1968 film Virages, his passion for car racing awoke. A few years later he wanted to take part in the competition and, despite his 52 years, stood out with a 5th place. A year later, in 1978, he founded his own team, Newman/Haas Racing.
Newman will end his acting career in 2007.
He died of lung cancer at his home in Westport, Connecticut, in 2008 at the age of 83.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years, actress Joanne Woodward, with whom he had three daughters.
Paul Newman had three other children from a previous marriage, including Scott, who died aged 38.
♦ Paul Newman has won three Oscars, five Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.
♦ He has also worked as a director and producer.
♦ A major philanthropist, he is said to have donated nearly a billion US dollars to numerous charities.
♦ In 1980, in memory of his son, he founded the Scott Newman Center to help people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction.
♦ In 1982, he founded the Newman's Own product brand, whose profits are donated to organizations that care for children with cancer.