Paul Newman Turns 65, but Keeps On Hustling

It’s hard to imagine, but Paul Newman becomes eligible for Social Security today.

The ageless actor with the cobalt-blue eyes is celebrating his 65th birthday in characteristic style. “I’ll have a quiet dinner with my lady,” he told his longtime publicist, Warren Cowan. The lady is his wife and frequent co-star, Joanne Woodward.

On Thursday, Newman was doing what he loves best: racing fast cars, this time at Daytona, Fla. “Joanne is tolerant of my racing,” he once remarked, “especially since I repay her by going to the ballet.”

The chances of Paul Newman needing Social Security payments are slim. Producers are still willing to pay him $3 million to appear in their films. This despite the fact that his two 1989 releases failed to ignite the box office.

The actor portrayed two real-life figures: Gen. Leslie Groves, head of the atomic bomb project, in “Fat Man and Little Boy” and Gov. Earl Long, the hell-raising Louisiana governor, in “Blaze.” It’s possible that Newman fans would not accept him as the raspy-voiced commander or the womanizing politician.

His great fame came with a series of unforgettable performances, often as a fallible, charming survivor, in such films as “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” “The Hustler,” “Hud,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting.” Though Newman was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, he didn’t win one until 1987 when he re-created his “Hustler” role as an older man for “The Color of Money.”

His latest film, “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” will be released this summer. Directed by James Ivory (“Room with a View”), it is based on Evan Connell’s novels about living an upper middle-class life in Kansas City from 1914 to 1944. Newman’s co-star is his lady, Joanne Woodward.