From unforgettable fame to who they are today — the full story, with rare photos.
The Face Everyone Knew
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, filmmaker, racecar driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He has been described as “one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars”. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, seven Golden Globe Awards, an Actor Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Silver Bear for Best Actor, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, and nominations for two Grammy Awards and a Tony Award. Along with his Best Actor Academy Award win, Newman also received the Academy Honorary Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
Rise to Stardom
Born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and raised in Shaker Heights, the eastern suburbs of Cleveland, Newman showed an interest in theater as a child and at age 10 performed in a stage production of Saint George and the Dragon at the Cleveland Play House. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics from Kenyon College in 1949. After touring with several summer stock companies including the Belfry Players, Newman attended the Yale School of Drama for a year before studying at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. His first starring Broadway role was in William Inge’s Picnic in 1953 and his final was in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in 2003.
Life at the Top
Newman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Color of Money . His other Oscar-nominated performances were in
Behind the Fame
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ,The Young Philadelphians , The Hustler , Hud , Cool Hand Luke , Absence of Malice , The Verdict , Nobody’s Fool , and Road to Perdition . He also starred in such films as Somebody Up There Likes Me , The Long, Hot Summer , Harper , Torn Curtain , Hombre , Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Sting , The Towering Inferno , Slap Shot , and Fort Apache, The Bronx . He also voiced Doc Hudson in Cars .
The Years That Followed
Newman won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing. He co-founded Newman’s Own, a food company that donates all post-tax profits and royalties to charity, ushering in a new model for business and philanthropy. As of 2026, these donations totaled over US$600 million.
So, Where Are They Now?
Newman continued to found charitable organizations, such as the SeriousFun Children’s Network in 1988 and the Safe Water Network in 2006. Newman was married twice and fathered six children. His second wife was actress Joanne Woodward, with whom he had a screen partnership in directing or acting together throughout their lifetime.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons (public domain / Creative Commons).