Yesterday a spokesman said Newman is "doing nicely". I hope that's true. It probably isn't.
Anyway here are some Newman quotes and trivia gathered from the web:
Said that he burned his tuxedo on his 75th birthday because he is through with formality.
Says the sound he loves most is that of a V-8 engine.
Has his own line of food products, "Newman's Own", featuring mainly spaghetti sauces and salad dressings. The company has made more than $100 million in profits over the years, all of which he has donated to various charities. [As of 2006 it was over $200 million.]
His only son, Scott Newman, died of a drug overdose in 1978.
Before he became an actor, Newman ran the family sporting goods store in Cleveland, Ohio.
He was the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of superhero Green Lantern/Hal Jordan.
Finished second in the 1979 Le Mans 24-hour race in a Porsche 935.
He was among the celebrities on the famous "Enemies List" kept by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. [Newman was #19 on Nixon's list.]
Was so ashamed of his debut in the failed costume drama, "The Silver Chalice" (1954), that he took out an ad in Variety apologizing for his performance. [In the ad, Newman also offered to refund the money of anyone who paid to see it.]
Lee Strasberg, who trained Newman at the Actor's Studio, said that he would have been as great an actor as Marlon Brando if he hadn't been so handsome.
Stumped the U.S. for Eugene McCarthy during his unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1968. Newman made the cover of LIFE Magazine with a McCarthy pin on his jacket on the May 10th, 1968 issue.
Early in his acting career, he was often mistaken for Marlon Brando. He claims to have signed around 500 autographs reading, "Best wishes, Marlon Brando."
Otto Preminger, a Jew himself, cast him in "Exodus" (1960) because he wanted someone of Jewish heritage who didn't "look Jewish".
Brother of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity.
Ethnically, Newman is one-quarter Polish and three-quarters Hungarian.
Was nominated 10 times for the Academy Award, including eight times as Best Actor, once as Best Supporting Actor, and once for Best Picture.
The GI Bill got him through his first 3 months at Yale. To pay tuition for the rest of his time there, he sold Encyclopedia Britannica.
Godfather of Jake Gyllenhaal.
Great admirer of Jim Carrey.
After being asked so many times what the secret was to being married so long to Joanne Woodward, he was asked yet again and simply responded, "I don't know what she puts in my food."
One of the most sought after and valuable collectible Rolex watches, the early "Daytona" model, from the 1960's, is known unofficially and passionately world wide, as the Rolex "Paul Newman." "Paul Newmans" in steel fetch as much as $100,000 in auctions. This nickname was adopted as he sported one in film.
He is a vocal supporter of gay marriage.
Was offered the role of Judah Ben-Hur in "Ben-Hur" (1959) but turned it down because he said he didn't have the legs to wear a tunic.
Got two roles which were first offered to Elvis Presley but which were turned down by Presley's manager: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1958) and "Sweet Bird of Youth" (1962).
"The Eiger Sanction" (1975) was originally intended as a vehicle for him.
Became a rear gunner of a TBF Avenger torpedo bomber when his color blindness disqualified him from being a pilot.
Quotes
On acting: "I wasn't driven to acting by an inner compulsion. I was running away from the sporting goods business."
On success: "I picture my epitaph: 'Here lies Paul Newman, who died a failure because his eyes turned brown'."
On adultery: "Why fool around with hamburger when you have steak at home?"
On philanthropy: "You can only put away so much stuff in your closet".
"A man can only be judged by his actions, not by his good intentions or beliefs."
"I don't think there's anything exceptional or noble in being philanthropic. It's the other attitude that confuses me."
(Speaking of a $10 million donation he made to his Alma Mater): "I owe Kenyon College a great deal. I even started my first business, a laundry service, there, and I depended on the extra $60 a week."
On Newman's Own: "The embarrassing thing is that my salad dressing is outgrossing my films."
"When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make. Over the years, that ethical stance has given us a 30 per cent boost. One in three customers buys my products because all the profits go to good causes and the rest buy the stuff because it is good."
On sexual preference: "I'm a supporter of gay rights. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being, by the time I get through with all the things I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is so low on the list that it's irrelevant."
On winning his first Oscar: "It's like chasing a beautiful woman for 80 years. Finally she relents and you say, 'I'm terribly sorry. I'm tired'."
"Being on President Nixon's enemies list was the highest single honor I've ever received."
And my personal favorite:
"A man with no enemies is a man with no character."
