Paul and Joanne

"Acclaim is the false aspect of the job, which screws you up. You start to need it, like a drug, and in the final analysis, what does it all mean? I won my Academy Award when I was very young. Sitting in bed afterward, and drinking my Ovaltine, I said to Paul, 'Is that it?' Suddenly I became 'acceptable,' and I felt that I was being 'acceptable' on a very false level which had nothing to do with me per se, or whether someone liked me, but only because I became an asset, in a certain respect, that I hadn't been previously. A property."

Paul Newman, A Life
Pg136,137

For Paul

I can’t say enough about how much I like Paul Newman, both as a performer and as a person who has managed to remain incredibly private in his personal life despite being one of the most famous people in the world. But reading an article about him by Patricia Bosworth in Vanity Fair this evening, my regard for him just sky rocketed. Among all his philanthropic acts, such as putting all, not a percentage but all proceeds from his salad dressing to charity and creating the Hole is the Wall Camp for kids with AIDS and HIV, he also retained the respectability of the Actors Studio in the 80s by keeping the “Material Girl” out of it.

“In the late 80s, Newman who served as president until 1994, also clashed with Ellen Burstyn, then the Studio’s artistic director over admitting Madonna, according to insiders. Burstyn had invited the singer, who was appearing on Broadway in the David Mamet play Speed The Plow, to become a member. Newman objected, saying in effect, that nobody, star or unknown, should get preferential treatment—everyone should audition. Madonna was never admitted.”

I love Madonna’s music and I think she’s a genius at what she does best but she should never try to act again. And God knows she has no business being in the Actor’s Studio just because she’s Madonna. While the world has benefited greatly from Gaultier's pointy bras, stage humping and an exploitation of Gay underground dance moves, I think we would survive without it. We need more Paul Newman. There will never be another like him.

Posted on Cine Verd
Saturday, August 8th 2008