The phone rings at Rosebud Prime Steakhouse in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. The manager answers. On the line is a man asking if he can bring his own bottle of wine to the restaurant. The manager insists Rosebud has its own fine wine list, bringing your own won't be necessary. The man describes his wine and the vintage year and the manager's eyes open wide. That's a great bottle of wine - see you soon.
In walks Mr. Paul Newman. Rosebud manager David Flom told me this story when we went to Rosebud to feature it in our Best Chicago Steakhouse segment. Apparently Paul Newman loved to travel and sample America's best burgers. After reading about Rosebud in the paper, in he walked, ate, thanked, and left.
That was the life of Paul Newman. A very private, cordial man who learned to cherish the simple things. That's what he did so well - the simple things. He didn't steal movies with long, bombastic monologues. He took the audiences' heart with a sharp, steely blue-eyed gaze.
Paul was a legendary Hollywood philanthropist. His line of "Newman's Own" products including salad dressing, tomato sauce, and popcorn were not only delcious - but every lick of profit went to charity. And you wouldn't see Paul gracing the cover of Time magazine to relish in his charity work. That's not who he was.
A devout family man with six children, Newman was married to his second wife Joanne Woodward for 50 years. You don't hear about big-time Hollywood couples hitting that number too often. Paul was also outspoken in politics - many political blogs today lamenting a "good liberal." I'm sure it would make him chuckle.
But most important - there will never be another Paul Newman on the big screen. The man made a classic cowboy movie ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"), he absolutely OWNS the pool hustler genre ("The Hustler," "The Color of Money"), the CON GAME is his ("The Sting"), and what about the SPORTS movie? Oh yeah, he starred in the greatest hockey film of all time ("Slapshot").
I can't say I'll miss Paul Newman in movies, the man has so many classics that'll be burning up my DVD player for decades. Looking back and thinking about his work today, I forgot all about "Road to Perdition." There's a movie that would have been career-defining for a lesser actor. For Paul it was just another day at work.
Paul Newman has died of cancer at 83.
