The daughter of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward was rummaging through the attic of the family’s home in Westport, Connecticut, when she made a surprising discovery.
“We had searched torn bags,” the 62-year-old told Fox News Digital. “I remember reaching in just before one was about to be thrown away – there were moths and dead mice everywhere… And I found the first 10 letters my father ever wrote to my mother.”
“It was close to being thrown away,” Melissa admitted.
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PAUL NEWMAN SAYS JOANNE WOODWARD MADE HIM A ‘SEXUAL CREATURE’: ‘We left a trail of lust everywhere’
A new book, “Head Over Heels,” focuses on the love story of Hollywood couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. (Gluttonous)
The former actress shares an intimate look into her parents’ marriage in her new book, “Head Over Heels: Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman – A Love Affair in Words and Pictures.” It contains more than 100 photos – some never seen before – of the Hollywood power couple from over the years.
Newman died in 2008 at the age of 83. Woodward, 92, has Alzheimer’s and lives a private life on the property they share.
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“There [are] Quotes from the letters in the book,” Melissa explained. “I read the letters and just thought, ‘Oh, that’s so sweet.’ That should be in the book.’ And then I kept reading and then I said, ‘Oh, Dad, I can’t put that in the book!'”
Paul Newman was married when he fell head over heels in love with actress Joanne Woodward. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
“I always say, ‘Guys, read the things my father wrote to my mother…’ [and] “Take notes, man,” she shared. “That’s how you court someone.” And it’s just so obvious that he was being fair [hit] on the head. He fell in love with her so much.
Newman met Woodward in 1953 when both were sophomores in the Broadway play “Picnic.” At the time, the actor was married to his first wife, Jackie Witte.
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“Women threw themselves at him,” Melissa said. “Meanwhile, my mother said, ‘God, it’s a good thing Paul Newman is handsome, because he sure as hell can’t act!'”
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Joanne Woodward won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1958. (Getty Images)
But the mutual attraction between the two was undeniable. The father of three began an affair with the actress.
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Newman and Witte divorced in 1958 and he married Woodward that same year.
“It was like a freight train,” Melissa said of the affair. “It was kind of unstoppable. Jackie was a wonderful person, but I think they were just escaping the Midwest. I’m not sure that would have lasted. So I would say that my parents’ relationship started in minor collateral damage.”
“Every summer my mother made sure that all the children from both sides came together,” she remembers. “We lived together. And my sister Steph says, ‘Your mother gave me my sisters.’ She came to live with us when she was 14 and we are still very close.”
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Paul Newman was the father of six children. (Joanne Woodward Newman)
“I have a lot of sisters,” Melissa boasted.
Melissa wondered if she should have read the passionate letters Newman wrote for Woodward. But upon closer inspection, it became clear that the actor was in love – and for the rest of his life.
She clarified that the letters were “naughty” and “naughty” but “not dirty.”
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Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met in 1953. (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)
“I got to a point in the letter where I said, ‘I can’t print that,'” she said. “But… it was adorable.”
It’s not the first time that Melissa has discovered her father’s private reports. In his posthumous memoir, published in 2022, Newman described how the Oscar winner turned him into “a sexual being.”
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“We left a trail of desire everywhere,” he remembers. “Hotels and public parks and Hertz Rent-A-Cars.”
Paul Newman previously said Joanne Woodward turned him into “a sexual being”. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Newman also described how Woodward decorated a room off the master bedroom of their Beverly Hills home with “a thrift store double bed” and a coat of fresh paint.
“I call it the ‘F—Hut,’ she said proudly,” Newman noted. “It was done with so much love and joy. Even when my kids came over, we would go to the f—house several nights a week and just be intimate and loud and raunchy.”
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Melissa said she wasn’t surprised by the revelation.
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Melissa Newman said she wasn’t surprised at how steamy her parents’ romance was. (Getty Images)
“It made perfect sense,” she noted. “And I thought, ‘Go, Mom!’ My mother was simply a free spirit. She was her own powerful force… She did it all. And obviously she was a bombshell at the same time.”
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In the book, Melissa wrote that the doors to her parents’ bedroom had “weirdly large deadbolts” that “acted like an airlock.” She also wondered why the bedroom needed two doors and a door knocker with two kissing angels that she couldn’t reach.
“I loved the musky smell of this unmade bed,” she wrote. “Without a doubt, I witnessed ultimate intimacy almost firsthand, long before I knew what to call it.”
During his lifetime, Paul Newman struggled with alcoholism, which affected his marriage. (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
But the couple’s romance was no picnic. Newman struggled with alcoholism, and Woodward called his drinking “the torture of our lives.” He gave up drinking in 1971, the New Yorker reported.
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“Navigating their relationship was really messy,” Melissa admitted. “But they did it. And they stayed together in a Hollywood marriage for 50 years. That’s a rare bird right there… They fought with each other, just like everyone else’s parents. They didn’t argue with each other in front of us, but in front of me.” Remember that my mother was stormy… There was a lot of stress, but there was also this thread… My father [said] They would have these screaming matches. And he said, ‘I would leave.’ And then I realized I had nowhere to go and then I would come back.'”
“They were best friends,” she recalled. “Yes, there would be hard times. They would argue. They came close to breaking up several times, but they always came back together… They were so connected.”
PAUL NEWMAN AND JOANNE WOOWARD HAVE A ‘COMPLICATE’ MARRIAGE, DAUGHTER SAYS: ‘THERE WAS A VIBE OF TENSION’
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Paul Newman fooling around with his wife Joanne Woodward, circa 1959. They raised their children in Westport, Connecticut. (Leo Fuchs/Getty Images)
Although her parents were stars, Melissa said she had a normal childhood in Connecticut, where her mother cooked and used a sewing machine to make clothes for her children. She also had a British nanny named Duffy who only rode motorcycles.
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman on their wedding day. (Getty)
“When I grew up there, it was a city full of artists and writers,” she said. “I think of the people my parents surrounded themselves with… My mother worked a lot on the stage and taught young actors… She got my father to do a wonderful version of ‘Our Town.'” And he had terrible fear. He could drive 200 miles on a track for an hour, but he was afraid to step on stage.”
Looking back, Melissa said the secret behind her parents’ decades-long bond was “mutual respect.” And even in difficult times, they remained devoted to each other.
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Humor was a big part of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s marriage. (Photos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
“They were always together,” she said. “And they made art together. They were artistic compatriots, they were lovers and they were fighters… It was this bond, this thread that simply held them together despite everything. There was no way they could walk even if they wanted to… It was like a bungee cord. They kept coming back together.”
The love continued throughout Newman’s final years. Melissa described the couple as loving grandparents. She has vivid memories of Newman happily playing in the sandbox with her children.
“You’ve never seen anyone as happy as my father in the sandbox,” she laughed. “He was respected by young children for being a fun guy to spend time with.”
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Paul Newman recalls losing his only son Scott to addiction: ‘I never thought it would be fatal’
Paul Newman died in 2008 and Joanne Woodward was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
She became quiet.
“We always felt that my mother was so strong that if something ever happened to her my father would collapse, but that if something happened to my father my mother would be fine. And I really think that’s why he left the planet when he did. I just think he had to be the first to go. He couldn’t take it.”
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Today, Melissa wants people to remember her parents not as a picture-perfect couple, but as real people who refused to give up on each other.
Melissa Newman said her book was “a celebration of love.” (Photos International/Archive Photos/Getty Images)
“This book is a tribute to their love,” she said. “It’s a celebration of love in the face of much adversity.”