Paul Newman (1) (1925–2008)

The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man by Paul Newman is a 2022 Knopf publication.

This a great way to present a memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed the various excerpts from people who knew Paul Newman personally, and those who knew him mainly from a professional standpoint, while Paul fills in all the rest. This creates more of a well-rounded view of him as a person, and it was interesting to see it all come together so fluidly.

Paul Newman was very easy on the eyes- and yes, he knew this- but his looks seemed to make him more insecure about being taken seriously as an actor.

Now that I’ve learned a bit more about him, I see that he was very different from many actors. I think. His musings show a man who thinks deeply, but didn't take himself too seriously. He was also a person who was surprisingly filled with a lot of self- doubt. He seemed almost bemused by his success as an actor, but also acknowledged that it came at a cost.

Though I didn’t agree with his spiritual philosophy, an area of his thinking I was disappointed in, to say the least- but I do find that no matter how ‘normal’ an actor - or any other entertainer, for that matter- can seem, they usually fail to realize they don’t live in the same reality as the rest of us.

Still, despite that one big difference of opinion- I thought this was a solid effort by everyone who took part in it. The latter years of Paul’s life are not part of this memoir-for reasons that will be explained if you read the book- which was too bad, as he accomplished a great deal in his final years.

Still, I found the memoir interesting, and it gave me insight into Newman’s inner thoughts, his private life, his regrets, and various internal conflicts. I also enjoyed hearing about his professional relationships, and the anecdotes he shared about his movie making adventures with his fellow co-stars and friends.

Overall, this is a different approach for a memoir, but it was well-executed and quite effectively.… (plus d'informations)

The format for this memoir/autobiography of one of Hollywood’s most respected actors is a bit unconventional. About 80% of the narrative are Paul Newman’s own words as recorded in transcribed interviews with one of his best friends from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The other 20% are comments from friends and movie industry colleagues as well as relatives. Newman’s equally famous wife, Joanne Woodward, also weighs in periodically in the book as do his children from two marriages. The story of Newman’s life is extremely candid, revealing the warts as well as what was behind “those eyes.” Drinking played an important part of Newman’s life, but unlike classic alcoholics, he seemed to know exactly when he was about to go over the alcohol cliff and then defied that gravity. His work was never affected by his drinking, nor, apparently were the relationships with his family and friends. In many respects, Paul Newman was a functioning drunk. I made a list of Newman’s films that I wanted to either watch for the first time or revisit. In some cases, I couldn’t remember whether or not I had seen them. The list is about seven movies long. Having the back story on his making of these films should give me a new perspective on them as I watch them all these years later. I wouldn’t consider myself a Paul Newman fan necessarily, but I have always liked his movies, and this book made me appreciate Newman as a man and an actor much more. I highly recommend it to fans and others like myself.… (plus d'informations)