BIOGRAPHY AND PERSONALITY OF A FAMOUS AQUARIUS: PAUL NEWMAN

Film actor, director. Born on January 26, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio. Growing up, Newman loved sports and hoped to be a professional athlete. He enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve after graduating high school in 1943. He served for three years during World War II. After leaving the military in 1946, he attended Kenyon College in his home state of Ohio. While he had acted in school plays before, Newman began to pursue acting in college.

After finishing college in 1949, Newman studied at the Yale School of Drama. He also took classes with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio in New York City. Newman appeared on Broadway in Picnic in 1953. It was during this production that he met actress Joanne Woodward would later become his wife. In 1954, he made his film debut in The Silver Chalice for which he received terrible reviews. But Newman proved he had the right stuff with later performances, such as Brick in the film version of Tennessee Williams' play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) opposite Elizabeth Taylor. He scored his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor for this role. Considered an outstanding actor of his generation, he scored three more Oscar nominations for The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), and Cool Hand Luke (1967). He also played the outlaw Butch Cassidy in the wildly popular film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

During the 1980s, Newman continued to earn critical praise for his work. Absence of Malice (1981) and The Verdict (1982) brought him two more Academy Award nominations. In 1985, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave Newman an honorary award for his contributions to film. The next year he won his first Oscar for Best Actor for the film The Color of Money. He has also worked behind the camera, serving as a director of such films as The Glass Menagerie (1987).

Newman's performances in Nobody's Fool (1994) and Road to Perdition (2002) again brought him Oscar nominations—for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. In the television film Empire Falls (2005), Newman got a chance to work with his wife Joanne Woodward. Known for his love of racecars, he lent his voice to the 2006 animated film Cars, playing the part of Doc Hudson—a retired racecar.

Beyond his acting work, Newman has been active in social and political causes. In 1982, he founded the food company Newman's Own, whose profits and royalties are used for educational and charitable purposes. Since its inception, over $200 million has been donated to thousands of charities worldwide. Some of the funds raised have gone to fund the Hole in the Wall Camps. Newman also founded the first Hole in the Wall Camp in 1988 in Ashford, Connecticut. The residential summer camp was created to give children with serious illnesses a memorable, free holiday. There are now eight camps in the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and France.

Paul Newman began working with the Ford Motor Company and America's Second Harvest in 2001 to help feed the hungry. For more than five years, Ford and Newman have supplied food and vehicles to transport the goods to food banks across the United States.

Twice married, Newman had a son Scott (who committed suicide in 1978) and two daughters Susan and Stephanie with first wife Jacqueline Witte. He and current wife Joanne Woodward have three daughters together—Elinor, Melissa, and Clea. Newman and his wife live in Westport, Connecticut.