Short Biography

Paul Leonard Newman was born in January of 1925, the second son of Arthur and Theresa Newman in Cleveland, Ohio. The Newman`s were a well-to-do family and Paul grew up in a nice home in Shaker Heights. Newman`s father was the owner of a highly successful sporting goods store. Paul`s mother and his uncle Joe`s interest in creative arts rubbed off on him.

By 1950, the 25 year old Newman had graduated high school, been kicked out of Ohio University for unruly behavior, served three years in the Navy during World War II as a radio operator, graduated from Ohio`s Kenyon College, married his first wife, Jackie, and had his first child, Scott. 1950 was also the year that Paul`s father died. When he became successful in later years, Newman said if he had any regrets it would be that his father wasn`t around to see it. He brought Jackie back to Shaker Heights and he ran his father`s sporting goods store for a short period. Then, knowing that wasn`t the career path he wanted to take, he moved Jackie and Scott to New Haven, Connecticut where he would attend Yale University`s School of Drama. While doing a play there, Paul was spotted by two agents who invited him to come to New York City to pursue a career as a professional actor.

After moving to New York, Paul acted in guest spots for various television shows and in 1953 came a big break. He got the part as an understudy of the lead role in the successful Broadway play Picnic. Through this play is how he met actress Joanne Woodward, who was also an understudy in the play. While they got on very well and there was a strong attraction, Paul was married and his second child, Susan, was born that year. During this time Newman was also accepted into the much admired and popular New York Actor`s Studio, although he wasn`t technically auditioning.

In 1954 a film Paul was very reluctant to do was released. It was called The Silver Chalice (1954). To this day, he his still embarrassed about the film and revels in making fun of it. He immediately wanted to return to the stage and performed in The Desperate Hours. In 1956, Newman got the chance to redeem himself in the film world by doing Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and critics praised his performance. In 1957, with a handful of films to his credit, he was cast in The Long, Hot Summer (1958) co-starring none other than Joanne Woodward. During the shooting of this film, they realized they were meant to be together and by now, so did Paul`s wife Jackie. After Jackie gave Paul a divorce, he and Joanne married in Las Vegas in January of 1958. They went on to have three daughters together and raised them in Westport, Connecticut. In 1959 Paul received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). The 1960`s would bring Paul Newman into superstar status as he became one of the most popular actors of the decade and garnered three more Best Actor Oscar nominations for The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963) and Cool Hand Luke (1967). In 1968 his debut directorial effort Rachel, Rachel (1968) was given good marks and although the film and Joanne Woodward were nominated for Oscars, Newman was not nominated for Best Director. He did, however, win a Golden Globe for his direction. 1969 would bring the popular screen duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford together for the first time when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was released. It was a box office smash. Throughout the 1970`s, Newman would have hits and m

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