Newman Calls it Quits

Ain't nobody can eat 50 eggs!

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Paul Newman, The Hustler and Cool Hand Luke are 3 of my all time favorites. TCOM was a disappointment compared to the two classic movies above. I think Newman received the Oscar in TCOM as a sympathy vote because of being passed up in The Hustler and Cool Hand Luke.

Remember the buxom car wash chick?
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I think of movie about the grind of the tournament trail might have some go...Kinda like the life and times of a player that travels the world playing...
 
JAM said:
You are right, Fatboy. He did make this announcement. I just caught wind of it today, which is why I made the thread. It seems like such a loss to me, even though he's still alive.

Here's an interesting Newman factoid: He earned nine Academy Award acting nominations but his only win was for best actor in The Color of Money in 1987 as the same pool shark he had played when he was nominated in 1962 for The Hustler.

Heck, at 82 years old, he's still my horse if he never wins another race. What a shooter, what a guy! :)

JAM
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I saw an interview where he stated he got intrested in Drama after he was kicked off his college football team. He never said why he was kicked off.
 
ironman said:
I saw an interview where he stated he got intrested in Drama after he was kicked off his college football team. He never said why he was kicked off.
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I didn't know that, and so my inquiring mind had to Google it. :p

This is what I found: In 1943, Newman graduated form Shaker Heights High School. He enrolled in Ohio University, but was soon expelled for crashing a beer keg into the university president’s car. He took on a job as a door-to-door salesman selling encyclopedias. When WWII broke out, Newman was eager to serve as a pilot and tried to enlist in the Naval Air Corps. When tests revealed that the man whose blue eyes would soon be famous the world over was in fact colour blind, Newman was crushed. Instead, he had to settle to be a radio operator on torpedo bombers in the South Pacific.

When he returned to the U.S., Newman won a football scholarship at Kenyon College in Ohio, where he played until trouble found him again. After getting into a fight at a local bar and spending the night in jail, Newman was thrown off the football team. He turned to drama to occupy his time and began appearing in many college productions. “Since I was determined not to study very much, I majored in theatre the last two years,” recalls Newman.

Man, I'm liking Newman more and more. He's a chip of the old block! :D

JAM
 
Films

Paul Newman is one of those actors that I can watch his films over and over like I do John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.

Here are his notable films:

The Silver Chalice (1954) | Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) | The Rack (1956) | The Helen Morgan Story (1957) | The Left-Handed Gun (1958) | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) | The Long, Hot Summer (1958) | Exodus (1960) | The Hustler (1961) | Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) | Hud (1963) | The Prize (1963) | Torn Curtain (1966) | Harper (1966) | Hombre (1967) | Cool Hand Luke (1967) | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) | Sometimes a Great Notion (1971) | The Sting (1973) | The Mackintosh Man (1973) | The Towering Inferno (1974) | The Drowning Pool (1975) | Slapshot (1977) Absence of Malice (1981) | The Verdict (1982) | The Color of Money (1986) | Fat Man and Little Boy (1989) | Blaze (1989) | The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) | Nobody's Fool (1994) | Message in a Bottle (1999) | Road to Perdition (2002) | Cars (2006)

Question of the day: Was it John Russell (The Lawman) or John Corbett that played the Sheriff in 'The Left Handed Gun' about Billy the Kid????
 
JAM said:
My pleasure. I know he's still alive, but somehow him announcing that he's not going to act anymore feels like I'm experiencing a loss; a death, if you will. Newman is still THE MAN, you're right! :)

Actually, I buy some of his food items. In particular, his salad dressings are EXCELLENT. The Original salad dressing is great to grill vegetables with, and his new Lite Italian salad dressing (with a bit of lemon) makes eating a salad a real treat. It is delicious! :D

JAM
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Newman will always be THE MAN!

...and as far as spaghetti sauce goes... you can't beat the sockarooni!

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Newman has had a great career in acting and racing. I have a long story but I'll make it breif. He come into our pool room a few years ago. He was here in Phoenix for the Indy car (CART) races. I got to play pool with him and two of his friends. Paul and I played partners, the bet was 30 a man.

During that time we briefly talked about the hustler. He said it took 31 days to shoot that movie. He also mentioned he played Gleason off set four games of 14-1, each with equal amounts of wins.

Paul is a super nice guy and he even bought the people playing next to us a some drinks. When they left they were unaware that it was Paul Newman bought their beer. LOL I have a short movie clip somewhere that I always wanted to capture some still photos.

Oh, In our match we won all 4 games so he could play a little. It was definitely my unexpected pleasure to have met the man let alone play pool with him.

Rod
 
I would like to see a pool movie that is similar to Rounders. Keith could be the bad guy waiting for the young pool shark to round up some money to play. Or at least could be one of the hurdles the obstacles has to get through. Hearing the actor's thoughts in the final match in Rounders was the best. Integrate a history of pool in the U.S. in the film. Put Cruise in a wheelchair this time, trying to get his young hustler to the top.

One thing for sure, get Keith in the movie!
 
whitewolf said:
I would like to see a pool movie that is similar to Rounders. Keith could be the bad guy waiting for the young pool shark to round up some money to play. Or at least could be one of the hurdles the obstacles has to get through. Hearing the actor's thoughts in the final match in Rounders was the best. Integrate a history of pool in the U.S. in the film. Put Cruise in a wheelchair this time, trying to get his young hustler to the top.

One thing for sure, get Keith in the movie!
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I like that movie Rounders, too. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck both play pool, BTW. They have/had a movie production company and made a separate pool room right there in their offices. They would be IDEAL to get a movie going.

Keith still gets stars in his eyes when talking about movies. LOL! :D

When we were at the Skins Billiard Championship several years ago, the Resorts Casino hosts were escorting Vincent Pastore "Pussy" from The Sopranos and his entourage around during the same time as the pool tournament was going on. I think they most likely told Vincent about Keith and TCOM before they entered the room where the tournament was taking place.

When Vincent walked in, Keith was standing in a side room. He walked right up to Keith, with his arms folded, and said, "Hey, aren't you that guy in 'The Color of Money'? That's one of my favorite all-time movies." Well, Keith just about melted, and the two of them enjoyed a chat. I managed to snap a picture of them. Keith is definitely a pool player, but he loves to entertain. Vincent giving Keith his props was definitely a real treat for Keith. :D

I would definitely like to see a new pool movie. Some great suggestions have come into this thread. Jeanette Lee's story would be GREAT. The movie should have a decent plot, one which will attract mainstream America as well as the pool community, and must be realistic and believable. I did not care for Poolroom Junkies.

JAM
 

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JAM said:
You know, a friend of mine bought the DVDs of "The Hustler," and it had some great snippets and video clips at the beginning about the making of the movie.

Mike Massey is on there displaying some of the shots executed in the movie. There are some interviews with other movie folks affilliated with this flick, too. And I think there's another pool folk who speaks at the beginning, but I can't remember who it was. I found those short video clips extremely interesting. You will enjoy it for sure! :)

JAM
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I have the "Hustler" on VHS and DVD, it was Jerry Orbach who did some
talking on the DVD, he was part of the NY pool scene along with Sorvino.

This new set will have an extra DVD with Paul on it talking about the movie, I can't wait to get it. Amazon said it will ship on June 12th.

:)
 
Massey's story?

Despite my love for pool, I always see him as he was in The Sting.

"Glad to meet ya, kid, you're a real horse's ass."
(shortly after another great line in the movie, "Luther said I could learn some things from you. I already know how to drink.")

ironman said:
maybe the most intresting of all, Mike Massey. {Few really know the HELL Mike went through and the battles he has won}
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It does sound interesting. Any hints? Or a link?
 
And, I Got MY Dirt Outta Boss Keene's Ditch

Paul Newman and I have alot in common. I too, spent a night 'in the box' and ate 50 eggs.
Doug
( I'm shaking it here Boss, I'm shaking it )
 
JAM said:
That is quite incredible. Redskins coach Gibbs went the same route.

Newman discovered a love of motor sports while filming 'Winning' in 1969. By 1972, he had begun to race professionally, despite being colorblind.

JAM
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Hats off to Newman! my favorite was his role in the movie "Hombre" based on the Elmore leonard novel of the same name.

As a Redskin fan - I can only wish Gibbs would follow Newmans example and quit before he totally ruins what was once as good a rep as an NFL coach as Newmans was as an actor.

I'm not sure if Gibbs still has his memory or his confidence but he sure hasn't shown any invention this time around.
 
Who would have ever thought, not me.

My first recollection of Paul Newman was from the movie The Silver Chalice. As a young teenager that movie and me did not mix. I hated it.
However in 1958 I was working as an usher in a theatre in San Francisco when the movie Cat On A Hot Tin Roof came out. I at that time had the luxury of working the loge section where people could cash in their tickets and pay extra to sit in the comfy cushioned seats. Well this movie set all records at the time for length of play. If memory serves me it was 8 weeks. I thnk I must have saw that movie 100 times, knew the dialoge by heart but Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor always held me spellbound.
At this time I was playing and hustling at Cochran's with One Eye Hank Hurst which was just down the street from that theater, so when The Hustler came out a few years later you can imagine how impressed I was with that movie. So fast forward to 1980 when the opportunity arose to buy my 2nd pool room by the name of Fast Eddy's Billiards I think it was out of nostalgia that I bought it. You notice the people named it Eddy's rather than Eddies, I think to not conflict and also make it possessive.
Over the years I have tried to get Paul Newman in here but to no avail. It is not like he is never around, he comes to Laguna Seca(Montery Count) yearly with his racing team and his daughter lives just down the road in Aptos, Ca. but he has never showed up. That is one of my biggest disappointment but I still honor him and the movies with memorabilia pictures and kept the name after all these years and although so many people now don't realize the connection. I show the movies on and off on the big screens once in awhile to educate the public. It is still fun and I too will miss his movies. It is also ironic that he lives in Conn. I think and his daughter lives here. Probably why he doesn't come around.
 
JAM,

Thanks for the post and the info. Newman will surely be missed on the big screen, a man of truly many talents.

For those that haven't seen it, donate a couple of hours to "Nobody's Fool".....good cast, bunch of great one-liners, and a superb performance by Newman....
 
JAM said:
Well, here's something that I never noticed about "The Color of Money," and I have probably watched this movie more than any other in my lifetime.

I didn't know Cruise played left-handed! I never picked up on that before! It definitely makes for a better picture, though! :o

JAM
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Hey Jam
If you go back and watch the COM again they show tom cruise shooting right handed and left handed.....almost makes you wonder how many of those shots he really shot himself....
 
CreeDo said:
Despite my love for pool, I always see him as he was in The Sting.

"Glad to meet ya, kid, you're a real horse's ass."
(shortly after another great line in the movie, "Luther said I could learn some things from you. I already know how to drink.")



It does sound interesting. Any hints? Or a link?
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I'll only say that I was in the bar when Mike was Jarred many, many years ago. A few of us felt very guilty over the incident and would have prevented it had we known what was happening. What happened afterwards was not a pretty sight nor one I will never forget.

The fact that he made it back is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. Mike and I talked about this a couple of years ago for quite a while and his attitude about it all is maybe even more amazing. He is without a doubt the toughest person I have ever known.

I suggested that the name of his biography {poolography as he calls it} should be, "To Hell and Back". The entire story will bring a bad ass to tears.
 
As much as we'll all miss him it's about time he decided to relax a bit! If I'm in as good shape when I'm 82 I'll be happy, hell I'd settle for that at 42!

Didn't Newman once say the character of Reggie Dunlop in Slapshot was his personal favourite? Hard to disagree with him on that one. I love that movie.

The term "screen legend" gets overused I think but in Paul's case they could have invented the term to describe him.
 
JAM said:
That is one movie that I have not seen, and I was unaware about this being his final flick. He had a 50-year-long career in film making. I'm going to have to rent that one to hear Paul Newman's voice work! :p

JAM
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And this is a good movie - kids and adults like it. And at Christmas, my wife said the all the "cars" from the movie were sold out --- very popular item with the kids - theme for kids birthday parties (one grandson just had his b-day and it was all done in the car theme).
 
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