Paul Newman is an Oscar, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award winning actor in a career that has spanned in excess of fifty years - and he is one of the coolest stars that have ever graced the big screen.
He began his acting career in the theatre in William Inge's Broadway production of Picnic.
His film debut came in 1954's The Silver Chalice along with Somebody Up There Likes Me, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Young Philadelphians throughout the fifties.
He successfully made the transition to the sixties, the decade in which he made the majority of his most famous movies.
The Hustler in 1961, which was about a small time pool hustler 'Fast Eddie' Felson, secured Newman his second Oscar nomination, after being nominated for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Another Best Actor nomination followed two years later for his role as self centred cowboy Hud.
Another iconic character of Luke, a Florida prison camp detainee who refused to submit to the system, came in 1967 in Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke followed.
For his role he received yet another Best Actor nomination and in 2005 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film 'culturally, historically, aesthetically, significant' and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
He rounded off the decade with the role that he is possible mostly associated with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) is the smart, savvy leader of The Hole in the Wall Gang, and his sidekick the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) ranks among the best shooters the West has known.
This combination of brains and menace allows the duo to roam unchallenged, staging petty robberies when needed and otherwise kicking back at the local brothel.
But when a six-pack of the best cowboys in nearby states gather to bring down the rebels, using a Native American tracker to follow them across rivers, over mountains, and through deserts; Butch and Sundance decide to flee.
Gathering Sundance's girlfriend (Katherine Ross), they make their way to Bolivia via New York City.
Unfortunately, old habits die hard, and before they know it, the charismatic criminals find themselves in an all-too-familiar situation, this time facing South American enemies.
The film went on to gross $102.3 million in the U.S. alone, the film now ranks amongst the top hundred grossing movies of all time.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. It went on to win four: Best Cinematography, Best Music - Original Score, Best Music - Song and Best Screenplay.
He finally got his hands on a Best Actor Oscar in 1986 when he reprised the role of Fast Eddie Felson in The Colour of Money.
Throughout the nineties his roles became few and far between his most famous parts being Nobody's Fool which saw him once again secure a Best Actor nomination from the Academy.
His last major movie role came in 2002's The Road to Perdition.
Two fathers: Michael Sullivan, a hit man for the Irish mob in Depression-era Chicago; and Mr. John Rooney, Sullivan's boss and the man who raised him as a son.
Two sons: Michael Sullivan, Jr. and Connor Rooney, each desperate to earn his father's favour. Jealousy and competition put them all on a collision course, ultimately bringing Sullivan's work into his private life and leading to the death of his beloved wife and youngest son, Peter.
Now Michael Sullivan and his surviving son are set on a journey instigated by tragedy and fuelled by revenge.
Road to Perdition was Sam Mendes' follow up movie to Oscar winning picture American Beauty and is widely regarded as one of the best gangster films in it's genre.
For the final time in his illustrious career the role of John Rooney earnt him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
He retired from acting on May 25, 2007.
Away from the big screen the actor founded the Newman's Own, a food company from which Newman donates all profits and royalties to charity. As of May 2007, these donations have exceeded US$220 million.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
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