I was watching a rerun of an old Johnny Carson Show last night where Dick Cavett was one of his guests. It took me by surprise when they discussed that Dick Cavett wrote jokes for the Johnny Carson Show before he had his own show. Especially since Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson had very different types of humor in their TV shows.
Paul Newman was a ferociously proud Jew.
Newman’s father read the daily Cleveland Jewish newspaper. His parents were lifelong members of the local Jewish country club, and they kept their synagogue seats for life so they could be buried in the Jewish cemetery.
When Newman’s career began to really take off, Jewish producer Sam Spiegel and others told him to change his name to something more WASPy, as many Jewish actors had.
Newman resolutely refused.
He said “it seemed more of a challenge to me to keep my real name, to insist upon it as a badge” of Jewish honor.
Newman later founded the SeriousFun Children’s Network to provide children living with chronic or life-threatening illnesses a free-of-charge fun and safe overnight camp experience. The Jordan River Village Camp in northern Israel is part of the network.
After his performance in the iconic movie Exodus, Newman said he starred in the movie to honor his Jewish family.
A good man and great actor, handsome too. I heard the profits from his products go to charities.
I wonder if you posting this (which sent me to wiki), was his spirit in a sense, because on reading his bio, I learned he was a lifelong Democrat and liked Bud beer.
He formed a company, Newman’s Own, that is a foundation that donates its profits to charities. Try their salad dressings or pasta sauce, they are excellent.
Two of Newman’s daughters have sued the foundation for not following their father’s instructions on how they were to be compensated.
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