Newman to Play Broadway; Last Appearance: 1964

Paul Newman will return to the Great White Way in December to appear in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” his first foray onto a Broadway stage since the 1964 comedy “Baby Wants a Kiss.”

Earlier this year, Newman played the role of the stage manager during a run at Connecticut’s Westport Country Playhouse, where his wife, actress Joanne Woodward, is artistic director.

“I’d given up hope that he’d ever go back to the stage,” says director James Naughton.

But Woodward was able to persuade her husband to appear in the Westport production, which will move with its entire cast to Broadway’s Booth Theatre in December.

Woodward and Newman were traveling on Thursday and unavailable for comment.

Newman called Naughton recently to say that a film shoot he was planning with Robert Altman had fallen through, and that he was interested in accompanying “Our Town” to New York. The play will run from Dec. 4 through Jan. 26 with the original Westport cast members, including Jane Curtin, Frank Converse and Stephen Spinella.