This may seem like a funny way to start out an article about Paul Newman, but growing up I always liked Steve McQueen better. I loved Steve McQueen in movies such as The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, and I thought that Paul Newman was, frankly, boring.
There is an old saying, though, and it goes like this: "If you are young and not a liberal, then you have no heart, but if you are older and still a liberal, then you have no brain." The quote is paraphrased a lot, and mangled, and it has been attributed to Winston Churchill, but the fact of the matter is this: this quote applies to Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.
Steve McQueen was cool when I was growing up. It was great to see him shooting bad guys in The Magnificent Seven, or racing around San Francisco in Bullitt. As I got older, I realized that, while those Steve McQueen movies were great, Paul Newman's movies were of a higher quality.
The Magnificent Seven is my favorite western of all time, and my second favorite movie of all time, but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a far superior product. It has shootouts, and one of the most famous last stands in movie history, but it is also thought provoking, bringing up subjects such as time, age, and obsolescence. And the impact that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had on popular culture is much greater. Robert Redford named a film festival and a ski resort after the Sundance Kid, and Paul Newman named his charity, the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp after the gang in the movie.
Do I hate Steve McQueen now that I am an adult? Absolutely not. But the days of me dreading when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was shown on television are over; I appreciate the movie, and its actors, more than ever. Especially Paul Newman.
Paul Newman was a great actor, one who never sold out, one who maintained a high quality product, and one who always remained active in the community and in society. And he will be missed.
Check out Paul Newman's charity, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential camp in Connecticut for children suffering from serious illnesses:
http://www.holeinthewallgang.org/
