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Legendary and much-respected film star Paul Newman has died of cancer, it has been announced. With his striking good looks and talent to match, he made his mark as one of the greatest leading men of his or any other generation, beginning with The Silver Chalice, the film debut he hated but has since become a cult movie. Nevertheless it led onto a career of far more distinguished parts such as Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Long Hot Summer, The Left-Handed Gun (as Billy the Kid) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (opposite Elizabeth Taylor).
Come the sixties he was securely established as a major star, and roles in Exodus, The Hustler (his pool player was among his most celebrated), Hud, The Prize, What a Way to Go!, Harper, Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, Hombre, Cool Hand Luke, (one of his finest achievements) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (one of the most beloved westerns of all time) followed. Later came WUSA, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, Oscar-winning The Sting, disaster classic The Towering Inferno, cult ice hockey favourite Slap Shot, The Verdict (showing his talent was not deserting him as he aged), The Color of Money (for which he won his Oscar), Mr and Mrs Bridge (with his wife of many decades Joanne Woodward), The Hudsucker Proxy for the Coen brothers, Nobody's Fool, Road to Perdition, and his final role in Pixar's Cars.
In addition to his tremendous film legacy, he was a racing car driver and also the advocate of charitable causes, raising a huge amount for them. He will be missed. |
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