Paul Newman, 1925-2008:

Paul Newman, the Academy Award-winning leading man , philanthropist and succesful race car driver, died on Friday of cancer. Newman, 83— was known for his roles in movies such as Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and countless others, including voice work in Cars, which reached a whole new generation of moviegoers—was a different type of star. Newman liked to play against his classically good looks, winning raves for portraying rebels, tough guys and losers.

Newman succumbed to the disease at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn., surrounded by family and dear friends. Newman is survived by his wife, five children, two grandsons and his older brother Arthur, the AP said

In a 52-year on screen, Newman earned the 1986 Best Actor Academy Award for The Color of Money, and pulled in 10 overall nominations—nine for acting, and one for producing 1968 Best Picture contender Rachel, Rachel, which starred Woodward, and which he directed.

Additionally, he received two honorary Oscars, in 1986 and 1994, won one Emmy, for 2005's Empire Falls, and rated one Tony nomination, for a 2002-03 Broadway revival of Our Town.

His essential films include:

Hud, the 1963 career-definer about an angry young cowboy;
The Hustler, the 1961 pool-hall drama;
Harper, the ground-breaking 1966 detective drama that made the gumshoe almost as troubled as his clients;
Cool Hand Luke, the oft-quoted 1967 chain-gang movie;
The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, his two crowd-pleasing period team-ups with Robert Redford.

Other key roles: His Oscar-winning return as pool-shark "Fast Eddie" Felson in The Color of Money, the 1986 sequel to The Hustler;
His shattering portrayal of an alcoholic, ambulance-chasing lawyer in the David Mamet-penned legal drama The Verdict;
His run through a trio of Tennessee Williams plays turned movies—The Long, Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Sweet Bird of Youth;
His cult-favorite turn as Reggie Dunlap, the scrappy player/coach of the Charlestown Chiefs, in the 1977 minor-league hockey classic Slap Shot; His latter-day supporting work in Road to Perdition and Empire Falls. Newman last appeared on screen in Empire Falls. A year later, in 2006, he supplied the voice of wily Doc Hudson in the animated hit Cars.

A no-show on the night he won his first and only competitive Oscar, Newman was not the sort of movie star who defined himself by the usual trappings. Rather, he was the sort of movie star who redefined what an off-screen life could, or should, be about.

Newman was a reluctant player, anyway, preferring Connecticut over California and, above all, preferring his wife of 50 years, actress Joanne Woodward, over anybody.

He sold popcorn, spaghetti sauce, cookies and other treats through his phenomenally successful, charity-funding Newman's Own brand. It started as a joke a company to sell Paul Newman's original oil-and-vingegar salad dressing. But Newman's Own became big enough to give away more than $250 million to thousands of charities worldwide, through sales of more than 150 varieties of food and beverages including popcorn, spaghettisauce, lemonade and salad dressing. All profits and royalties after taxes for the company are donated for educational and charitable purposes. In 1988, Newman co-founded the Hole in the Wall Camps, now a global family of camps for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Newman managed to become a full-on open-wheel racer and team owner, and kept at it for nearly 40 years until his death, of cancer, Friday night. He was not just an owner, after all, but an actual driver.

Newman began racing sports cars in amateur divisions and won his first race in 1972 at Thompson, Conn., in a Lotus Elan. Paul Newman wanted to be a great athlete — he just never found a sport in which he could excel. Then, while filming the movie "Winning" in 1969 at age 43, he discovered auto racing.

"I was never a very graceful person. The only time I ever really feel coordinated is when I dance with Joanne," he once told The Associated Press, referring to his wife, Joanne Woodward. "And that's not my doing. But when I'm behind the wheel of race car, I feel competent and in charge. It's something I really enjoy."

"I don't like talking about acting because that's business and pretty boring," Newman told the AP another time. "And politics can get you in trouble. But I'll always talk about racing because the people are interesting and fun, the sport is a lot more exciting than anything else I do, and nobody cares that I'm an actor. I wish I could spend all my time at the racetrack."

Newman became a car owner in the Can-Am Series, campaigning cars for a number of top drivers, including Indianapolis 500 winners Al Unser, Danny Sullivan and Bobby Rahal, as well as Formula One champion Keke Rosberg.

After competing against team owner Carl Haas in Can-Am, Newman formed a partnership with the Chicago businessman, starting Newman/Haas Racing in 1983 and joining the CART series.

With Mario Andretti hired as its first driver, the team was an instant success. Throughout the last 26 years, the team — now known as Newman/Haas/Lanigan and part of the IndyCar Series — has won 107 races and eight series championships with drivers like Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Cristiano da Matta, Paul Tracy and Sebastien Bourdais.

. He earned the first of four SCCA National title in 1976 in the D-Production class and also won championships in the 1979 C-Production category, as well as taking the GT-1 championship in 1985 and 1986. His first professional victory came in the rain at an SCCA trans-Am race at Brainerd, Minn., in 1982. When Newman arrived in the media center at Brainerd for the winner's interview, a bottle of champagne in hand and a huge smile on his face, he found just two writers waiting for him. "Where is everybody? I guess I'll have to win something a little bigger than this to get any attention," he said. Newman added another Trans-Am win at his home track in Lime Rock, Conn., in 1986.

His team placed fifth at Daytona in 1977. "Racing is the best way I know to get away from all the rubbish of Hollywood," he once said. Newman placed second in the 1979 24-hours-at-Le Mans endurance test, and helping run one of the most successful race-car teams in motor sports.

He won seven national SCCA amateur races and a pair of Trans-Am races and finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was in the cockpit in 1995 when his team won the Rolex 24 at Daytona, a 24-hour endurance race. At 70, he was the oldest driver to win the event.

He never truly stopped, though he did slow down some. By the time he turned 80, he was still turning laps in races, but not as quickly as wanted. "I'm running out of steam," he admitted at one point, but insisted he intended to remain involved "as long as I'm competitive." It's interesting that, by the time he made that comment, he had retired from acting.

Newman drove his last race as a professional in the 2005 Daytona 24-Hours and even ran some hot laps around his beloved Lime Rock Park in August.

As the years went on, people kept asking him when he was going to quit racing. His reply was standard.

"That's what Joanne keeps asking me," he said.

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Jan. 26, 1925. He worked steadily on Broadway and in live TV in the early 1950s.

Newman announced his retirement from acting in 2007. He cited not his health, per se, but his aging-out memory banks. "I'm not able to work anymore...at the level that I would want to," Newman told Good Morning America. "So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me." But what a book it was.