Legendary actor, Paul Newman, died on Friday at the age of 83 after a long, but very private, battle with cancer.  Hands down one of the THE best looking and most talented actors ever, Paul Newman was an amazing entertainer who starred in dozens of Hollywood classics, including “Hud,” “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof,” “Cool Hand Luke,” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” He was a ten-time Academy Award nominee, an Oscar winner, and a recipient of two honorary Oscars.

Unlike so many other Hollywood pretty boys, Newman stayed married to his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, for over 50 years, raising 3 children together (he also had 1 son and 2 daughters from a previous marriage).  In fact, in a Playboy interview, Newman once said of his wife, “I have steak at home– why go out for hamburger?”  You gotta love a man who adores his wife AND looks that good!

And though he could have spent his life resting on his laurels or basking in the Hollywood spotlight, Paul Newman spent much of his life raising money for the less fortunate, which he did quite successfully.  After his only son’s accidental death (his son Scott overdosed on alcohol and Valium in 1978), Newman created the Scott Newman Foundation to finance the production of anti-drug films for children.  In 1982, on a whim with a neighbor, Newman founded his Newman’s Own food line, which as of 2007, has donated a whopping 175 million dollars to various charities!  Newman also hosted camps for sick children, which I became familiar with when a friend of mine first told me how her son, who suffers from sickle cell, had participated in Newman’s camps for years, and how all of the children and their parents were treated like absolute kings and queens by camp staff including Paul Newman himself. She said it was a life-changing experience that she and her son would never forget.

So, for being a great American actor, a loving husband and father, a racing enthusiast, a philanthropist, and a one of the dreamiest faces to ever grace the big screen, we salute Paul Newman and a life well-lived.

FWO- ForWomenOnline.com