The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir

Product Information

The later part of his life when he started his philanthropic organizations and camps for children, he continued to question his life and motivations. His love of car racing continued throughout his later life, and he was quite successful personally and professionally with his racing team. It was also interesting to hear about his view of or relationship with other actors and directors. What’s an insecure showoff to do? “Acting gave me a sanctuary where I was able to create emotions without being penalized for having them,” Newman writes. Yet he also says he never really liked the craft but discovered that he was good at it, at least in the eyes of others, and worked hard to make it a career. Paul Newman died in 2008 but he had been working on his memoirs since 1986. After he died his family and friends set about trying to finish this project. It took about 5 years and I think it was well worth the wait. Do I really want to watch eternal faves like THE HUSTLER, ABSENCE OF MALICE, SLAP SHOT, NOBODY'S FOOL and think about what a shitty young husband and father Paul Newman was? How mean he could be when he was drunk? That he didn't speak to his mom for fifteen years?

Drawn from conversations between the late actor Paul Newman and screenwriter Stewart Stern, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man sees the Cool Hand Luke star reflecting on a life marked by dizzying success and psychological pain. The interviews, which took place over five years from 1986, were seemingly forgotten until Newman’s children unearthed them in 2019 and turned them into this memoir-cum-oral history. An excessively private man he started to make notes for an intended Memoir and then gave it up. His children found much of the documents long after his death and decided to share it with the public. Since they are his children they would know better than I if he would be pleased about this or not – considering he passed away so many years ago, maybe now he couldn’t care less. 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.

Select a format:

Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-08-12 12:01:01 Boxid IA40208707 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier I have been a huge fan of Paul Newman since I saw my first of his movies, The Long Hot Summer, which also happened to feature his wife Joanne Woodward. Those baby blues led to my major infatuation on my part and even to this day, I consider Paul Newman to be a celebrity crush. When I heard a posthumous memoir was created from his writing and interviews, I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

Still, it's a fascinating portrait of an actor of preternatural beauty who worked extraordinarily hard at his craft. His complicated childhood and fraught personal life as a young man imprinted him early with a need to be seen and yet fiercely guard his true self. Understanding the irony that his looks would breed jealousy and suspicion in an industry where beauty opens doors, Paul Newman pursued gritty, hard-edged roles ( Hud, Cool Hand Luke), but there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that he would escape the sex symbol status that vaulted him to the top of the celebrity A-list. Newman at his best...with his self-aware persona, storied marriage and generous charitable activities...this rich book somehow imbues his characters' pain and joy with fresh technicolor." -- The Wall Street JournalMemoir is loosely applied here. This is the transcript of a recorded series of conversations between Paul Newman and screenwriter friend Stewart Stern in the late 80s- early 90s that two of Newman's daughters published years after their father's death, with added bits and pieces from other friends, family and industry colleagues to round out the anecdotes and memories. In this way, it is mostly Newman's own words, but it's impossible to know if this is how he would have chosen to present his story and his voice.