Saturday, September 27, 2008

Paul Newman RIP

Paul Newman at rally for Senator Eugene McCarthy,
during McCarthy's presidential bid

I just learned that Paul Newman died. My Mom liked Paul Newman a lot. Hence, I grew up watching a lot of his films, which were usually great. My four best memories of Newman are going to see the film Absence of Malice on New Year's Day with my Mom and the great movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. After all, Butch Cassidy was a Mormon outlaw who captured my imagination. I remember visting the house in which he grew up and being almost as awed as I was by the movie. I also really like the version of Our Town in which Newman appeared back 2003 as part of Masterpiece Theater's American Collection series.

Probably my most vivid memory is an excerpt from an interview he gave to Barbara Walters many years ago, which is my most endearing memory of this great actor and humanitarian. During the interview Walters asked Newman why he raced Formula One cars, to which Newman responded, while chuckling- "Because it's a kick in the ass!"

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