Goodbye, blue eyes: A tribute to Paul Newman

I like to remember Paul Newman playing Brick Pollitt opposite Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Perhaps it isn't his most memorable role, and even though it was an Oscar-nominated performance, it could hardly be seen as the peak of his career. Nevertheless, this is the way I like to remember him, with some of the best yet to come, in an amazing performance, in a role that wasn't easy to play, within a cast that not only had talent but also the commanding presence to go with it.

Young and handsome, his intensity was effortless. Behind those magnetic blue eyes was an explosive actor. And even though the audience should hate him as the alcoholic and bitter husband of Taylor's Maggie the Cat, that undertone of charm wins everyone over.

Newman's death on Friday at age 83 only gives us more reason to watch him on the screen. Lose yourself in his blue eyes, but perhaps more importantly, discover this actor and all that he contributed to Hollywood.

He was nominated for nine Academy Awards over the course of his more than 50-year career in Hollywood, finally winning the award for best actor in a leading role for Scorcese's The Color of Money. Newman's ability to play a variety of characters was only part of his talent as an actor. He redefined the rebel, turning a most often mysterious and dangerous type into a likable, high-spirited figure of candor and ease. Newman had both personality and passion to go with an intellectual and serious approach to acting.

He never disappears within the crowd of a film; instead he is always memorable, no matter if he is playing alongside Robert Redford or Tom Hanks. Every time you watch him, he makes you fall in love with his characters despite their faults (which he never hides; they are always there, but somehow no matter how big these faults are, they fade as you are coerced by charm and humor).

But Paul Newman never overshadows his co-stars. Many of his greatest roles come out of amazing ensemble collaborations, if not some of the best film duos of all time. Can it get better than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? And I think this is telling of the kind of person that Newman was, because it never seemed to be just about him. Besides being a great actor, he was also a loving husband to his wife Joanne Woodward and a generous donor to charity organizations. Winning the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994, Paul Newman made contributions that exceed beyond the cinematic world.

So this weekend, spend a day with Paul Newman. Sit down, watch a classic, and see if you can resist those legendary blue eyes.