A Perfectly Cromulent Blog

"Nobody can eat fifty eggs."

DSL isn't hooked up at our apartment yet, so I'm only three days late in commenting - via cell phone - on Paul Newman's death:

Newman attained stardom in the 1950s and never lost the movie-star aura, appearing in such classic films as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Exodus," "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "The Verdict."

He finally won an Oscar in 1986 -- on his eighth try -- for "The Color of Money," a sequel to "The Hustler." He later received two more Oscar nominations. Among his other awards was the Motion Picture Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

"Paul took advantage of what life offered him, and while personally reluctant to acknowledge that he was doing anything special, he forever changed the lives of many with his generosity, humor, and humanness," said Robert Forrester, vice chairman of the actor's Newman's Own Foundation. "His legacy lives on in the charities he supported and the Hole in the Wall Camps, for which he cared so much."
[...]
A portrayal as a race-car driver in 1969's "Winning" led to his actual competition in races; at 70, he participated in the 24 Hours of Daytona and he was still racing at age 80.

He stumped for liberal causes, including Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential candidacy, and earned a spot on Richard Nixon's enemies list -- "the highest single honor I've ever received," he said.

In 1982, Newman and his friend A.E. Hotchner founded Newman's Own, a food company that produced food ranging from pasta sauces to salad dressing to chocolate chip cookies.

"The embarrassing thing is that the salad dressing is outgrossing my films," Newman once wryly noted.

To date, the company -- which donates all profits to charities such as Newman's Hole in the Wall camps -- has given away more than $200 million. Newman established the camp to benefit gravely ill children.

Newman's body of work looks like you cherry-picked my top 50 movies list: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Hustler, Slap Shot, The Verdict...even in lousy flicks (When Time Ran Out or HWRNMNBSOL's favorite, The Towering Inferno) he was an exceptional talent, a fact unobscured by his belated "lifetime acheivement" Academy Award.

As the greats of music and moviedom continue to pass on, I keep wondering who's going to step in and fill their shoes. Is there any actor working today who's even close to the full package - artist, activist, philanthropist - that Newman was? In 40 years, is anyone going to look back on the life of Brad Pitt or George Clooney with the same mixture of sorrow and admiration?

Anyone besides US Magazine, I mean.

RIP Reggie.