Saturday, September 27, 2008

Hollywood legend Paul Newman dies

Legendary film star Paul Newman, one of Hollywood's most well-known actors, has died, a spokesman said.

Newman was 83 and had been battling cancer.

The acadamy award-winning superstar appeared in 60 movies, including "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Hustler," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and "The Sting."

"Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all," Robert Forrester, the vice-chairman of the Newman's Own foundation, said in a statement from Westport, Connecticut on Saturday.

Newman earned nine Oscar nominations for acting and won the best actor honour for "The Color of Money" in 1986.

In May, Newman said he had dropped plans to direct an autumn production of
"Of Mice and Men," citing unspecified health issues.

Starry career

Newman began his career in theatre and on television during the 1950s, and went on to become one of the world's most enduring and popular film stars.

With major roles in more than 50 motion pictures, Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers.

His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in "Butch Cassidy" and "The Sting".

He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood's rare long-term marriages.

They wed in 1958, around the same time they both appeared in "The Long Hot Summer," and Newman directed her in several films, including "Rachel, Rachel" and "The Glass Menagerie."

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