Favorite Birthday Boy #2

 Paul Newman
From:  Favorite Hunks & Other Things

 Paul Newman always was looking  good would have turned 89 today. And had that great smile.

Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver, auto racing team owner and auto racing enthusiast. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the 1986 Martin Scorsese film The Color of Money and eight other nominations, six Golden Globe Awards (including three honorary ones), a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy Award, and many honorary awards. He also won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open wheel Indy Car racing.

Paul in Cool Hand Luke

 Newman was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which Newman donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. As of 2013, these donations exceeded US$380 million. He also founded the Serious Fun Children's Network, a global family of camps and programs for children with serious illness which has served 290,076 children since 1988.

Paul in Cool Hand Luke

 Newman was scheduled to make his professional stage directing debut with the Westport Country Playhouse's 2008 production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, but he stepped down on May 23, 2008, citing health issues. In June 2008, it was widely reported that Newman had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment at Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York City. Writer A. E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start the Newman's Own company in the 1980s, told the Associated Press that Newman told him about the disease about eighteen months prior to the interview. Newman's spokesman told the press that the star was "doing nicely", but neither confirmed nor denied that he had cancer. In August, after reportedly finishing chemotherapy, Newman told his family he wished to die at home.

 Newman died on September 26, 2008, aged 83, surrounded by his family and close friends.  His remains were cremated after a private funeral service near his home in Westport. The 2008 documentary The Meerkats was dedicated to Newman.

Paul with Robert Redford