Paul Newman

"The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster." 
~ Paul Newman
Superstar actor, director, and philanthropist Paul Leonard Newman (1925-2008) was born on this day in Cleveland, Ohio and served as a Navy radioman in World War II before turning to film-making.

 He made his acting debut in 1953 and rose to fame with skill, good looks, and extraordinary blue eyes.

 "Acting is a question of absorbing other people’s personalities and adding some of your own experiences," he said. "I think make-believe rubs off. I think bravery can rub off. I think humor can rub off."

 His film career was astounding. The talented actor performed brilliantly in The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1959), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and so many more...

 Newman finally won an Oscar in 1986 for The Color of Money as pool hustler Eddie Felson who would "never kid about money."

 "Show me a good loser and I will show you a loser," said Newman, whose passion off-screen for years was race car driving.

 In 1982, with a $40,000 budget, the star launched the Newman's Own line of salad dressings, then added salsa, pasta sauce, and popcorn.

 Newman said: "I allow my celebrity status to be exploited in order to sell stuff from which I then in turn channel the proceeds into good causes, hence the slogan of our company: 'Shameless exploitation for the common good.'"

 All net profit goes to charity--as of 2015, over $475 million to charities since 1982. "It started as a joke and got out of control," Newman said.

 The actor also founded the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps which has helped hundreds of thousands of children with life-threatening illnesses.
"I am not a professional philanthropist," Newman said modestly. "I am not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer who puts back into the soil what he takes out."
Do good in stealth.

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