Few Hollywood actors are as iconic as the great Paul Newman, the magnetic star of Cool Hand Luke. Cool and charismatic the same way James Dean and Marlon Brando were, but also unafraid to take unflattering roles like his contemporaries Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. His acting career by itself would be a legacy all by itself, but Paul Newman also has his successful race car-driving pursuits, philanthropic endeavors through the Newman’s Own Foundation, and his 50-year marriage to Joanne Woodward only adds to a life fully and richly lived.

Here are 99 facts about the movie star and humanitarian Paul Newman.

Paul Newman: Parents, Early Life & Education

When and where was Paul Newman born?

1. Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925 in a town called Shaker Heights, Ohio about 10 miles outside of Cleveland.

Who were Paul Newman’s parents? 

2. Paul Newman’s father Arthur Sigmund Newman was the Jewish son of immigrants and ran a sporting good store. Paul Newman’s mother was Theresa Garth, and she worked in Arthur’s store. Paul was her second son, after Paul Newman’s brother Arthur Jr.

Where did Paul Newman go to college?

3. Paul Newman went to Ohio University in Athens, Ohio for awhile after graduating high school in 1943. He left to join the Navy.

4. After a few years in the Navy, Paul Newman graduated from Kenyon College in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and drama.

Where did Paul Newman study acting?

5. Paul Newman was 10 years old when he appeared at the Cleveland Playhouse in their production of Saint George and the Dragon.

6. After graduating from Kenyon College, Paul Newman did touring summer stock productions in Wisconsin and Illinois.

7. Paul Newman studied at the Yale School of Drama for a year before moving to New York City.

8. Once he moved to New York City, Paul Newman studied acting at the Actors Studio under the great Lee Strasberg.

Paul Newman in the Navy

9. Paul Newman served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946.

10. The Pacific theater is the term they use for the “theater of operations” in the Pacific Ocean during World World II. That’s where Paul Newman was stationed. We thought the Pacific theater might have something to do with some military acting troupe but no.

11. Paul Newman is colorblind. When Paul Newman tried to enroll at the Navy pilot training program at Yale University, they discovered this and he was dropped.

12. His time in the Navy was pretty busy. Paul Newman was a gunner and radioman who trained other aircrewmen as part of a replacement squadron.

13. Paul Newman narrowly missed a brush with death when his replacement squadron was supposed to be assigned to the USS Bunker Hill at the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 when his pilot was grounded by an earache. Other members of the team went ahead, but some perished during a kamikaze attack on the Bunker Hill. Here is what Paul Newman looked like in the Navy.

Paul Newman: Children & Marriages 

How many times was Paul Newman married?

14. Paul Newman was married twice. His first wife was Jackie Witte and they were married from 1949 to 1958. According to a profile in Rocks Off, Jackie Witte was also an aspiring actor who met the future icon during summer stage productions together.

When did Paul Newman marry Joanne Woodward?

15. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward married in 1958 — 5 years after they met during the production of Picnic on Broadway.

16. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married for 50 years until Paul’s death in 2008.

How many children did Paul Newman have?

17. Paul Newman had 6 kids. The first three — son Scott and daughters Susan and Stephanie — was from his first marriage to Jackie Witte. His other three — daughters Nell, Melissa, and Claire — were with Joanne Woodward.

18. Scott Newman was an actor and stuntman who appeared in films like The Towering Inferno. Sadly, Scott Newman passed in November 1978 from a drug overdose. According to a 2015 Vanity Fair story, Scott’s death was the beginnings of a philanthropy habits that continued until his death.

19. Stephanie Newman was Paul Newman’s second child. Supposedly she was in movies with her father when she was very young, but doesn’t seem to have an active page on IMDB. Of all of Paul Newman’s children, we know the least about Stephanie.

20. Susan Kendall Newman has worked with Paul Newman’s philanthropic efforts but dabbled in acting. Susan Newman appeared in the Robert Zemeckis film I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978). Susan Newman also appeared in Slap Shot with her father.

21. Elinor Teresa Newman usually goes by Nell, and she was Paul Newman’s first child with Joanne Woodward. When she was acting, she went by Nell Potts, and appeared in Rachel, Rachel (1968) and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972). In the former, Nell played her mother Joanne Woodward’s character as a child. In the latter, Nell played Joanne’s daughter. Nell also ran Newman’s Own Organics and appeared on the packaging with her father until December 2014.

Click to buy Rachel, Rachel by Paul Newman on DVD!

22. Paul Newman and his daughter Nell were cast as the father/daughter team in Paper Moon (1973) at one point. Of course, the role went to Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. Later on, Nell became a biologist with a passion for sustainable agriculture, which led to the creation of Newman’s Own Organics. Nell Newman often appeared on the Newman’s Own packaging with her father Paul Newman.

23. Melissa Newman was born in 1961 and she also has done some acting. Usually billed as Lissy Newman, she appeared in episodes of Hawkins and The New Perry Mason in the early 1970s. Lissy also appeared in James Ivory’s Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990) with her parents.

24. Continuing the Newman family show business, Claire Newman has also worked in the industry — but in a much different capacity than her parents and siblings. According to IMDB, Claire Newman has done production and post-production work for television shoes like Mad Men, The Big C, The Americans, Big Little Lies, and Deadwood: The Movie.

 

Paul Newman: Career, Movies & Film

Was Paul Newman ever on Broadway?

25. Yes! Paul Newman first appeared on Broadway in Picnic by William Inge in 1953. Not only was this a huge milestone in Paul Newman’s career, he also met future wife Joanne Woodward, who was Kim Stanley’s understudy.

26. In 1955, Paul Newman appeared in the original Broadway production of The Desperate Hours.

27. A few years later in 1959, Paul Newman also appeared in the original Broadway production of Tennessee William’s Sweet Bird of Youth with Geraldine Page. They both starred in Richard Brook’s 1962 film adaptation.

Click to buy Sweet Bird of Youth on Blu-ray!

 28. Once Paul Newman’s film career took off, it would be some time before he would return to the stage. In 2000, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward starred in Ancestral Voices together at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut after Joanne took over directorship of the theater.

29. In 2003, the Westport Country Playhouse produced Our Town — and Paul Newman was nominated for his very first Tony Award.

Did Paul Newman act in television?

30. IMDB has Paul Newman’s earliest acting credit in a television series called The Aldrich Family, where he was billed as an “occasional cast member” in 1952 and 1953.

31. Way before he was famous, Paul Newman also had bit parts in television shows like Tales of Tomorrow, Suspense, and The Man Behind the Badge, among a few others.

32. Back when television programming was much different in the mid-1950s, shows like the Philco Television Playhouse and United States Steel Hour did adaptations of plays and novels for tv. Paul Newman did several of these, including Bang the Drum Slowly for the latter.

33. Paul Newman starred in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls in 2005, based on Richard Russo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Although he would lend his voice in Cars and a couple documentaries, this would be Paul Newman’s last appearance in film or television.

What was Paul Newman’s first movie?

34. Paul Newman’s very first Hollywood movie was called The Silver Chalice (1954), about a Greek artist who is commissioned to make a chalice to store the Holy Grail — and by most accounts, it is not a very good movie at all. It was a Paul spent the rest of his career openly disdaining the film. Paul Newman called it “the worst motion picture produced during the 1950s” and once even took out a full-page ad in Variety apologizing for it.

Click to buy The Silver Chalice on DVD!

35. As far as the first movie where Paul Newman began to receive attention and praise, that would be for his role as boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), based on the pugilist’s autobiography. Incidentally, the film was won two Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction for the Black and White categories.

36. The role that catapulted Paul Newman to superstardom was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and directed by Richard Brooks. Based on the Tennessee Williams play, the film was a huge hit. It was the 3rd-highest grossest film of the year and Paul Newman secured his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Click on the cats to buy Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on DVD!

What was Paul Newman’s last movie?

37. Paul Newman’s last film appearance was Road to Perdition (2002), directed by Sam Mendes. The Great Depression-era period piece also starred Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, Stanley Tucci, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Click to buy Road to Perdition on Blu-ray!

38. The 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars would be Paul Newman’s actual final film role in his life. Paul Newman lent his voice to Doc Hudson, and archive recordings enabled Paul Newman to posthumously contribute to Cars 3 (2017).

What are Paul Newman’s best and most popular films?

39. It’s entirely subjective of course, and Paul Newman was pretty much always great. Performance-wise, tho, Paul Newman’s best roles include Hud (1963) Cool Hand Luke (1967), The Verdict (1982), and Nobody’s Fool (1994).

Click to buy Cool Hand Luke on Blu-ray!

40. Paul Newman’s most popular film at the height of his superstardom is probably Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Fresh off an Oscar nomination for Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman starred with fellow handsome bastard Robert Redford in George Roy Hill’s saga about outlaw train robber pals loosely based on real figures. The movie was a smash hit and the top-grossing film of the year — and also nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture.

 

Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward

41. Several years after meeting on the set of Picnic, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward starred in The Long, Hot Summer (1958) together. It would be just one of many many collaborations the famous wife-and-husband team would embark together in their half-century of life together.

42. Paul Newman directed his wife Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel (1968). It was Oscar nominated for Best Picture.

43. The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972) also starred Joanne Woodward and was directed by Paul Newman. He was nominated for a Palme d’Or for Best Director.

Click to buy The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds on Blu-ray!

44. Paul Newman also directed Joanne Woodward in The Shadow Box (1980) and Harry & Son (1984). Paul Newman also returned to his Tennessee Williams roots and directed his wife in The Glass Menagerie (1987).

45. Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990) was a film that Joanne Woodward had wanted to make since she first read Evan S. Connell’s novel in 1959. Paul Newman starred in the title role opposite his wife, supporting a landmark role in Joanne’s career where she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

46. All in all, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward would appear in at least 10 films together, Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), From the Terrace (1960), Paris Blues (1961), A New Kind of Love (1963), Winning (1969), WUSA (1970), and The Drowning Pool (1976).

Click to buy The Drowning Pool starring Paul Newman!

Paul Newman & James Dean 

47. James Dean only appeared in 3 movies in his short life — and Elia Kazan’s East of Eden (1955) was one of them. Early in 1954, Paul Newman appeared in screen tests with the legendary actor, auditioning for the role of Dean’s twin brother. Paul Newman, of course, did not get the role while James Dean did, and the two appearing in a film together will always remainsa great Hollywood what-if. Footage still exists of this momentous occasion, and it’s must-see-TV for any cinephile. The chemistry is ridiculous.

48. According to The TV Guide TV Book published in 1992, Paul Newman was a last-minute replacement for James Dean later on in 1954 for a live television broadcast production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. Paul Newman starred along Frank Sinatra and Eva Marie Saint.

49. After James Dean’s untimely passing in 1955 at the age of 24, Paul Newman once again replaced James Dean in a television production based on the Ernest Hemingway short story “The Battler,” about a boxer.

50. The connection doesn’t stop there. James Dean was originally supposed to star as the lead in Somebody Up There Likes Me, but that ended up being Paul Newman’s breakthrough role.

51. As if that were not enough, Paul Newman replaced James Dean as Billy the Kid in Arthur Penn’s The Left Handed Gun (1958). It’s hard enough to imagine the history of Hollywood if James Dean had not passed so early on, and it’s very easy to wonder how Paul Newman’s career path had turned out if James Dean lived.

Did Paul Newman ever win an Oscar nomination?

52. Paul Newman was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars 8 times. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor once, for Road to Perdition (2003).

53. Paul Newman’s 1st Best Actor Oscar nominated was in 1959 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

54. Paul Newman’s next three Best Oscar nominations were The Hustler (1962), Hud (1964), and Cool Hand Luke (1968).

55. There were no Oscar nominations for Paul Newman in the 1970s. But in the 1980s, his career found another gear, being nominated for a Best Actor Oscar in two consecutive years: Absence of Malice (1982) and The Verdict (1983).

56. Finally, Paul Newman won his first — and only — Best Actor Oscar in 1987 for The Color of Money.

57. Nobody’s Fool (1995) would be Paul Newman’s 8th — and final — Best Actor nomination.

58. For all of his acting Academy Award accolades, Paul Newman did not get credit for directing Rachel, Rachel (1969), which was nominated for Best Picture in 1969.

59. Paul Newman also won an Academy Honorary Award in 1986, as well as the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.

Did Paul Newman ever win an Emmy?

60. In 2005, Paul Newman won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for his role in Empire Falls.

61. Paul Newman was also nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Our Town (2003).

62. In 1981, Paul Newman earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special for The Shadow Box.

What other awards have Paul Newman won?

63. Paul Newman was nominated for no less than 10 Golden Globes for his acting. All but two were the same as his Oscar nominations: Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) and Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962).

64. Paul Newman won a Golden Globe for Best Director in 1968 for Rachel, Rachel.

65. In 1956, Paul Newman shared the Golden Globes New Star of the Year award with Anthony Perkins and John Kerr.

66. The National Board of Review awarded Paul Newman Best Actor for The Color of Money (1986).

 

More Fun Facts About Paul Newman

Interesting & Cool Paul Newman Facts

67. Paul Newman was on President Richard Nixon’s famous list of enemies. He called it the “highest single honor I’ve ever received.”

68. Elvis Presley had to turn down Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth before they were offered to Paul Newman.

69. In 1986, Paul Newman published a cookbook! It’s a must-have gift for any Paul Newman fan and you should buy a copy for the one in your life.

Click to buy Paul Newman’s cookbook!

70. Paul Newman has actually been nominated for 2 Grammys. The first was in 1993 for Best Spoken Word or Non-Musical Album for Mr. and Mrs. Bridge. The other was in 2000 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

71. Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman were mentors to a young Allison Janney, whom Newman directed when she was a freshman at Kenyon College.

72. The Simpsons episode “The Blunder Years” from Season 13, Episode 5 contains a one-line voice appearance from Paul Newman. Supposedly he did his takes over the phone while on the set of another movie.

73. Paul Newman is indirectly responsible for Tony Scott’s Days of Thunder (1990). The veteran actor struck something of a friendship with Tom Cruise during The Color of Money, which led to the Risky Business star developing a taste for racing cars after hanging out with P.N. Eventually, according to Motor Authority, Tom Cruise pitched a race car movie to Jerry Bruckheimer and a hit movie was born.

74. Though Paul Newman set up a pool table in his living room so he could practice for The Hustler, 14x world billiards champion Willie Mosconi stood in for the tougher pool shots.

75. Cars was the last film project Paul Newman worked on when he was alive. It would also be his biggest box-office success, raking in about $462 million.

76. When the Green Lantern superhero was reintroduced in 1959, Paul Newman supposedly served as the inspiration.

77. Six actors have been nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role and Paul Newman (The Hustler and The Color of Money) is one of them.

Paul Newman & Auto Car Racing 

Did Paul Newman Love Racing Cars?

78. For the filming of Winning (1969), Paul Newman trained at the Watkins Glen Racing School and fell in love with racing. This jumpstarted a lifelong passion of cars and auto racing for Paul Newman, one that would take a significant part of his life for the next couple decades. In fact, you could probably create another list of facts just on Paul Newman’s love and involvement of racing.

79. Once Upon a Wheel is a 1971 television special hosted by Paul Newman that talks about the history of auto racing.

80. Paul Newman’s first professional race was at the Thompson International Speedway in 1972. He entered under the very clever name of P.L. Newman

81. Paul Newman’s interest in racing was no mere hobby, and the iconic actor and philanthropist took competitive racing seriously. Throughout the 1970s, Paul Newman won 4 national championships of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).

82. If that were not enough, Paul Newman placed 2nd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1979 in a Porsche 935.

83. Paul Newman continued racing into his 80s, even using his age (81) as the car number in races.

84. After his death, Paul Newman was inducted in the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2009 for his contributions to auto racing.

85. Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman (2015) is a documentary that delivers exactly what the title promises.

Newman’s Own and Other Charity & Activist Work

Did Paul Newman do Charity and Activist Work?

86. In 1982, Paul Newman and his writer buddy A.E. Hotchner (whose autobiography was the basis of Steven Soderbergh’s 1993 King of the Hill) founded Newman’s Own after making some homemade salad dressing and giving them away as gifts.

87. Salad dressing was just the beginning. The brand expanded to include foodstuffs like salsa, frozen pizza, tomato sauce, popcorn, cookies, lemonade, and other products that focused on quality ingredients.

88. Paul Newman wasn’t crazy about the idea of using his name to make even more money than he was already making. So his solution was to give away the money he made from his salad dressing and pasta sauce — with of 100% profits going to the Newman’s Own Foundation charity that focuses on organizations like Fair Food Network and RE•Center Race & Equity in Education. You can always feel good about buying Paul Newman products.

89. According to the Newman’s Own Foundation website, Paul Newman and his foundation have donated some $570 million — that’s over half a billion dollars Paul Newman has given to the greater good.

90. Paul Newman’s daughter Nell Newman founded Newman’s Own Organics in 1993 that specialized in pet food and snacks made without artificial and processed ingredients. Unfortunately, the licensing agreement they had with Newman’s Own after her father passed away was not picked up again.

91. What was done with the Newman’s Own Foundation after Paul’s passing is the subject of a Vanity Fair piece in 2015. Daughter Susan Newman alleged that the new CEO pushed the family off the board of the foundation. It’s not clear if any of the family members are presently involved.

92. Paul Newman and A.E. Hotchner wrote a memoir together on how they started the business. It’s called Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good and it’s still available today, albeit on the secondhand market. 

93. From 1993 to 2006, the PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award was given annually to an individual who actively defended our First Amendment rights. The award has gone to teachers, librarians, whistle-blowers, and journalists who demonstrated courage in the face of censorship.

94. Paul Newman co-founded The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in 1988 as a safe inclusive space for kids with serious illnesses to have an awesome sleepaway camp experience. It’s grown to a community of 30 different camps and other nonprofit programs that serve children with illnesses. The most impressive part is that it doesn’t cost the children anything to attend.

95. In 2007, Paul Newman donated about $10 million to his old alma mater Kenyon College as part of a scholarship fund.

96. In 1995, Paul Newman, along with writer E.L. Doctrow, put up a lot of dough to keep The Nation running.

97. Paul Newman was a Democrat who supported same-sex marriages and gay rights. He also attended the March on Washington in 1963.

How old and when did Paul Newman Die?

Paul Newman: End of Life

98. Paul Newman died on September 26, 2008 at 83 years old.

99. According to pal A.E. Hotchner, Paul Newman revealed to him that he had lung cancer. Paul Newman smoked for a long time.

Click to read more at Content Bash!

Want to read more about Paul Newman? Check out or list of Facts About Cool Hand Luke! If that’s not enough, read our list of Obscure Muppets You May Not Know or Facts About The Pope of Greenwich Village or Is Gangs of New York a True Story? or The Enduring & Endearing Friendship of Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Cover Image: Photos via Wikimedia Commons

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