Paul Newman & James Dean

Below is a screen test for, I think, East of Eden. James Dean won that part. East of Eden was made in 1954 and in theaters in 1955. James Dean died in a car wreck in 1955. Paul Newman would live another 54 years after the below screen test was made. In the screen test both look so young. Probably because they were young. One did not get much older, the other lived to be an old man. I think living to be an old man is preferable to a car wreck.

Paul Newman Killed By Lung Cancer at 83

I must be getting old. So many TV and movie stars who in my mind's eye are young, are actually old. Cloris Leachman in her early 80s. That surprised me.

And now to read that Paul Newman has died from lung cancer and that he was 83, well, both those facts surprised me.

Paul Newman was real good in several of my favorite movies. Like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He and Elizabeth Taylor were at their peak in that movie. Hud is another Paul Newman movie I've watched more than once.

I liked Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when I saw it in a theater, long ago, but off the big screen and on to my TV, that movie did not entertain me on second viewing. But Paul Newman was good in it.

When I read it was lung cancer that was the cause of death I wondered if Paul Newman was a smoker. I figured not, due to him being behind all those healthy Newman's Own food products. But the photo would seem to indicate he smoked, maybe only in his younger years. Lung cancer is a nasty way to go.

I've gotta look up how old Elizabeth Taylor is...76. I've not seen her in several years.