The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir

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This unforgettable and extraordinary memoir, one of the best and most compelling books of 2022, is a breathtakingly honest mea culpa from a complicated man striving to excavate his demons; according to Newman's daughter Clea, who writes the memoir's afterword, he succeeded in his final decades. An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. Good looks, charm and an air of confidence provided an effective cover. He went from understudy in the 1953 Broadway production of “Picnic” to a featured role, then to starring in the movies. It sounds so meta: the professional faker faking it so professionally. He wanted to tell his life story in his own way. So that is what he set out to do with the help of his long-time friend and collaborator, Stewart Stern. In an excerpt from the actor’s posthumous memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man , Paul Newman reflects on the meaning and impact of celebrity.

Paul Newman may have been a better actor than many moviegoers realized. Self-assured in his talents the Oscar winner was not. A sexual ace with the ladies? Hardly. Nor was he the devoted husband and family man presented to the public. I was glad to get an inside look at an amazing actor who was a flawed human being who managed to make it to the top in Hollywood – one of the hardest places to make it at all.Much later in his career, Newman’s voice became an equally striking feature. Unlike the eyes, the voice had to be earned; it was no pretty boy’s birthright. Decades of smoking, drinking and pain produced a rusty baritone that could narrate its way to the very soul of a man’s regret. Newman’s voice settled into its terminal register in the 1980s, in movies like “Absence of Malice” and “The Color of Money.” His world-weary characters could still get the girl, but the right one had long since gotten away. By the end of his career, Newman spoke with a lovely white-haired softness as a sort of national grandfather, teaching a boy to use a watch in “Nobody’s Fool” (1994) and describing the rules of the road in Pixar’s animated “Cars” (2006). Millions of children know him by his voice alone. The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound. 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. Newman was predisposed to addiction and alcohol. He compensated his drinking with physical fitness and long saunas. 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 Journal

Given this psychological record, Newman refuses to take credit for his much-praised philanthropy. Although the salad dressing sold as Newman’s Own generated millions for charitable causes, he winces at the way he marketed his celebrity on the shelves of grocery stores and suspects that his altruism came “from having no civic impulses at all, just inventing them the way I invented everything”. Presumably that also applies to his political activities in support of candidates who opposed the Vietnam war; though he voted Democrat, Newman defines himself as “an emotional Republican” – hard faced and self-contained or, as a college crony says of him, “tough and cold”, even “devilish”. he was honest to the core, was a loyal friend, very well respected by most people, loved to laugh at his own jokes…..In 2008, Paul Newman died at the age of 83. While his kids figured the transcripts from their father's project were floating around somewhere, it took a decade to locate them. Piecing together what they found, they came up with this book, which is Paul's life in his own words with some relevant anecdotes from others, and it is an utterly fascinating read. I felt no closer to understanding Newman after reading this book than I did before. He would agree with my assertion and nod and shrug. 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. THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF AN ORDINARY MAN is revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in some places, always complex and profound. Newman’s often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Marlon Brando and James Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward—their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually.

This was a painstaking collaboration that took his recorded conversations, and translated them into a well-coordinated readable, reasonable sized book.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. If I could do that and didn’t care, it would be terrific. I’d feel a lot better at the end of the day. Paul Newman was an ordinary man gifted with extraordinary good looks and extraordinary talent. Even if (in his own words) he probably would not accept that he had any talent at all. 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. I'm about halfway through the audiobook, and I cannot stop listening. My respect for the man is not even slightly diminished by knowing about his personal struggles. His honesty and integrity manage to shine throughout his revelations about his battle with alcoholism and self-doubt. I'm so glad that I chose to listen to the audiobook because it is impeccably done. I suspected that I was going to enjoy learning more about this very private man's life but I had no idea that the book was going to be so excellently executed. My very sincere thanks to his family, friends, and coworkers - and to everyone else involved in the production of this outstanding combination autobiography/biography. It does this extraordinary man justice.

Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Marlon Brando and James Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward--their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually. The ultimate cool guy, who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist ... Newman entertained millions in some of Hollywood's most memorable roles ever, and brightened the lives of amny more, especially seriously ill children, through his charitable works.' Arnold Schwarzenegger A stunning memoir by an actor who could convincingly play a charismatic but self-destructive outsider because he knew the breed all too well…a brutally frank reflection on a life filled with self-doubt…[ The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man]smolders with introspection as Newman tries to ascertain what he couldn’t see in himself that so many others did.” —Douglass K. Daniel, AP news Memoir 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.One of the very finest screen actors of our time. Newman spanned the gap between the golden days of Hollywood, the 40s and 50s with actors like Cary Grant and James Stewart and Clark Gable, and the present lot represented by Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise' Sir Michael Parkinson Newman's often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed. He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean), his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott, his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his relationship with Joanne Woodward - their love for each other, his dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually. When Joanne and I went to Paris to shoot a few scenes of Mr. and Mrs. Bridge there were photographers at the airport, and Joanne said to me: “Don’t be a jerk. Pose for them and then they’ll leave us alone.” So you agree to stand there and smile for a minute or two, hold your wife’s arm, etc. and you tell them, “I’ll see you, goodbye.” Then you walk to your car and about two-thirds of them follow and do exactly what you thought you were getting away from. They honor nothing, and they even chase the car. Thisislike eavesdropping on a dinner party filled withfriends andcolleagues alllistening to andtalking about theman sitting at the head of the table, Paul Newman. Honest, funnyand oftenpainful conversationswhichwere found by his daughtersandwoven together into a fascinating memoir of their“anything but ordinary”father.Iloved the book and adored the man.” —Sally Field