The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir
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As seen in The Last Movie Stars documentary – the raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an icon. The greatest movie star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, his greatest roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, Tom Cruise and many others.
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.
The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising. Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices – from childhood friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater collaborators such as Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill, Martin Ritt, and John Huston – that run throughout add richness and color and context to the story Newman is telling.
Newman’s often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward – their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound.
Praise for Paul Newman
‘One of the greatest screen actors of all time and a beautiful man.’ Daniel Craig
‘He set the bar too high for the rest of us. Not just actors, but all of us.’ George Clooney
”He was my hero.’ Julia Roberts
‘Paul was an American Icon.’ President Bill Clinton
‘The ultimate cool guy, who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist … Newman entertained millions in some of Hollywood’s most memorable roles ever, and brightened the lives of amny more, especially seriously ill children, through his charitable works.’ Arnold Schwarzenegger
‘Sometimes God makes perfect people and Paul Newman was one of them.’ Sally Field
‘One of the very finest screen actors of our time. Newman spanned the gap between the golden days of Hollywood, the 40s and 50s with actors like Cary Grant and James Stewart and Clark Gable, and the present lot represented by Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise’ Sir Michael Parkinson
‘Newman was a fine driver, who was famous in Hollywood for doing his own stunt driving as often as not.’ Ron Dennis, Formula 1’s McLaren Chief
‘To say he was an extraordinary man would be an understatement. he saw himself as a working actor, not a movie star, and insisted that everyone else did the same. There was no ego, no entourage, no hangers on. Only Paul, his script and his incredible spirit. One can say this about very few people, but he was a truly great man. It seems to me to be one of the great 20th-century lives: he was famously generous, with his extraordinary and unstinting work for his charities, he was a shining example of how to use global fame for the greater good, and most of all he was one of the great movie actors of this or any other age. [Directing Newman] was the highlight of my professional life.’ Sam Mendes
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Additional information
| Publisher | Penguin (26 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1804940909 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1804940907 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 1.9 x 19.8 cm |
by Amazon Customer
Worth reading if you were a fan.
A bit of a jumble, however, it does give an idea about what he was thinking about his life.
by Lexicon
Newman is very candid about his shortcomings of being a father, actor and husband. On the Dick Cavett show he admits to not having the depth of Gielgud and admits in the book his success is owed more to his looks than his talent. I got tired of the platitudes heaped on him by those who knew and worked with him and skim read the end. An honest account of a man beset by insecurities and self perceived failures as opposed to those hollywood luminaries who pad their memoirs with praise and (self) adulation.
by John P O’Byrne
I am a huge fan of Paul Newman, having grown up with his movies. Every role he inhabited stands the test of time. Cool Hand Luke is my favourite, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is recognised as a classic. This memoir, put together by his family after his death, is quite raw and revealing. It’s an honest portrayal of a most complex man, who was uneasy with fame but achieved so much in his other roles as director, race car driver, philanthropist and entrepreneur. What a life, what a man!
by D. Robinson
Paul Newman was (and still is) my favourite film actor, breathing life into The Hustler, Hud, Harper, Hombre, Butch Cassidy, The Sting, The Towering Inferno, Road to Perdition and many more, ensuring that his Oscar for The Color of Money came ridiculously late. The fact that he also evidently excelled in stage acting, film direction, driving and philanthropy makes the self-deprecating image often encountered in this book, surprising. The truth is surely somewhere in between, and this book reflects it quite well. When I first saw Newman in Torn Curtain, the only dressing I used was Heinz Salad Cream. This is still largely true, but Paul peers from the label of at least one bottle in our fridge. It’s true he came up in the shadow of Brando (even for me, a non-Marlon fan) but Newman is truly a one-off. This book scores 4.5 stars, but anything with Newman in gets at least one extra star. I’m off now to find and watch films I knew about but unforgiveably haven’t watched properly, like Mackintosh Man and Pocket Money…
by Brian Buckley
Found it difficult to follow his explanation of many events in his life.
by Dickie Arbiter
We all know Paul Newman the actor – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting; The Verdict; The Colour of Money and many many more – so it was refreshing to learn about the man. He was a tireless and generous worker both on films and on stage – very often handing over some of his pay to less well off in the crew. This was his ‘level playing field’. Later in life his generosity extended to young people – he set up camps where youngsters could let their hair down without interference. The love of his life, and someone who came across as a great influencer, was actress Joanne Woodward, his third wife. The book is largely taken from interviews between 1986 and 1991 – I would have liked more. Fore there was a whole 16 years missing (Newman died in 2007). I did enjoy getting under Newman’s skin and I was sorry the book didn’t go beyond 1991 – but this is perhaps for another writer at another time.
by Wiz
Of course none of us are Paul Newman, definitely not me, and definitely not in actions or success – but in this memoir I’ve probably come the nearest I ever have, to having a fellow human write about how life’s contradictions feel to me.
This is why I say “the story of many of us”. This memoir is self doubt, self belief, the thought process that questions and challenges every other thought. The laying out of alternatives, with dozens of different tangents, all of which may be possible but perhaps equally impossible. Ultimately there is no decision, no knowing for sure, just an idea that he/we did what he/we did, and that is our life.
I found it a surprisingly compelling read, and my thanks to his family for sharing such an extraordinary insight into the extraordinary life of an ordinary man.
by CM14
As someone who has seen every single one of his films, this is a must buy for Newman fans/admirers – the great man in his own words. Not eye opening, but gives plenty of extra insight.