Still unconfirmed at 7:06 am CST
If it’s true, goodbye to a great actor and philanthropist! :*(
How many children has he helped with his donations from his sales of salad dressing, etc.? If true, condolences to Joanne Woodward and the rest of his family and friends at their loss.
One of my all time favorite movies is “Towering Inferno”—they called Frank Sinatra “Old Blue Eyes”, but man, Paul Newman had some gorgeous blue eyes going himself! :-)
It’s incredible to read the news in international newspaper websites only!
For those that don’t know, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Newman is an avid auto racing enthusiast, and first became interested in motorsports (”the first thing that I ever found I had any grace in”) while training for and filming Winning, a 1969 film.
Newman’s first professional event was in 1972, in Thompson, Connecticut. He ran the 24 hours of Le Mans once in 1979 and finished second in a Porsche 935 of Dick Barbour.
From the mid-’70s to the early ‘90s, he drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, racing mainly Nissans. He became heavily associated with the brand during the ‘80s, even appearing in commercials for them. At the age of 70, he became the oldest driver to be part of a winning team in a major sanctioned race, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1995. Newman told an Associated Press journalist in March 2005 that he’ll “probably race for another year”.
Newman co-founded Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing with Carl Haas, a Champ Car team, in 1983. He is also a partner in the Atlantic Championship team Newman Wachs Racing. The 1996 racing season was chronicled in the IMAX film Super Speedway, which Newman narrates. His team Newman/Haas/Lanigan announced a partnership with Robert Yates Racing of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, but that partnership collapsed when Yates announced his retirement from racing in September 2007.
There is only one real Hollywood racer/actor left - James Garner. With him will go a great era.