Why do so many people act like Paul Newman was perfect when he was a shitty father/husband?

Datalounge v Quantum Leap.....

Where are you more likely to see irrelevant blasts from the past?

Because people will always give men they want to fuck a pass. He was gorgeous.

Because he said that thing about hamburger and steak dinner.

R2 Whenever people thirst over Marlon Brando, most acknowledge how screwed up he was. Yet most people act like Paul was flawless. I just think it’s interesting. The new documentary about him and Joanne really revealed him.

One reason may be because he was a private person. You never saw Paul Newman out drunk cruising bars and such. I have never heard of any scandal about him. His Hole in the Wall gang for terminally ill children showed such an admirable and compassionate side of Paul. Idc who he fucked, I admire and respect him.

R3 Joanne hated that quote too lol. And he cheated on her so clearly he didn’t mean it.

R5 Paul did a lot of good things for sure. But watching his documentary I couldn’t help but feel bad for his families. He really put them through it by being an absentee father and an alcoholic.

Nobody ever said he *was* perfect, just that he *looked* perfect.

R8 No people definitely act like he was a perfect human being too.

Hmm, I knew Nell Newman pretty well for about three years. She never said anything to indicate he was a shitty father.

He pretty much seamlessly segued from hot actor to distinguished humanitarian.

My mom (who met him in person) would talk about how gorgeous he was, but for all of my early life/teen years he was the man behind Newman’s Own (quality products of which the proceeds all went to charity.)

Why? Because he looks like this... 😛

R7: I have not watched it , tbh, although I have no reason to doubt that is a well researched and accurate portrayal. No one is perfect and an alcoholic parent is permanently damaging to families. I know this from experience, unfortunately. But to be fair, many of these abusive alcoholics endure a life time of guilt and remorse when/if they get and stay sober. Maybe his kindness and devotion to those terminally ill children was his way of trying to become a better person and do something generous and compassionate for others. Alcoholism is a horrific, brutal disease that destroys families. I am not trying to make excuses for his behavior, but please take into account that there were no treatment programs back then. No therapy, meds, no medical knowledge of the disease of addiction. I may be mistaken, but I truly believe that Paul tried his best to become a better person. I believe he succeeded in that.

@r12... And this

R13 That’s fair enough. I gotta admit learning about his alcoholism and how it affected his family struck a nerve with me, since I have an alcoholic father and know that growing up with one is living hell.

R14- It was those beautiful blue eyes. Who could look away from those eyes? Beautiful man.

Also, I feel bad for what happened to Paul’s son Scott.

Sometimes he looked like this...

Marlon Brando was gorgeous in his youth and people call him out for the shitty things he did.

Although to be fair to Paul, he was never accused of molesting one of his daughters assaulting an actress with a stick of butter like Marlon was.

or assaulting*

Something about the way he hopped... 😍

His strut was as nice as his hop

Not scared at all

R10 he was probably a slightly better father to the second set of kids, of which Nell was one

Jesus, he was gorgeous. Makes my snack cake moist.

the most gorgeous guy ever. no one compared or compares to him, even now.

R26- He really was a perfect , flawlessly beautiful man. I loved him in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He and Elizabeth Taylor were at the height of their beauty and talent. I believe sister women lusted after him.

I often wonder how Liz felt acting with a man better looking than she was 🤔

R27

His friend Anthony Perkins was more handsome.

R30: He doesn't even compare to Paul . Paul Newman looked like a Roman God.

I thought you whores loved me

R32- He was gorgeous, no doubt. But he didn't have whatever it was that Paul had, imo.

Of course you would like to have a tasty snack like Brando, he was ruggedly handsome . But Paul Newman in my opinion was an intriguing, private man and would be a fascinating challenge to get to know the real Paul Newman. I would also love to know what, if anything, Paul ever said about his costars. He wasn't the type to write a tell all. Unfortunately. Paul Newman was a dignified man . He always sat at the table with the children when they were there. No adults, no parents. The only adult that he allowed at the table that I am aware of is Robert Redford. Paul's picture was on lemonade carton. One child looked at his picture then looked at him and asked paraphrasing here. ' How long were you missing? " Robert Redford thought that was the most endearing thing and I agree, it was.

Whatever flaws and demons he had to struggle with in his early years, Paul worked hard to redeem himself, imo. I believe he was a very admirable man.

The one scene, in "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof"....where Newman was sitting in his car in the heavy rain, with Burl Ives arguing with him...then Newman revealed that Ives was dying.....his profile and head shape was perfection in the soaking rain. He really looked like a Greek god there. That always struck me when I see that scene.

^ For you...

Yes! Thank you R35!

I had no idea that Newman was an alcoholic or bad father/husband. Maybe he was among the last Hollywood stars protected by the old studio system that concealed everything real about the person and spun a tale of perfection? I only knew him as an actor turned philanthropist.

I made charity salad dressing

Although an alcoholic, Newman was not a nasty abusive drunk - he was a passed out uninvolved drunk. He occasionally cheated on Woodward, but he wasn't a womanizer.

People LIKE to believe Newman was perfect because 1) He was able to keep the imperfect part out of the newspapers 2) he stayed in his marriage (#2) and 3) he was a big philanthropist.

THREAD CLOSED

I'd argue that Paul Newman owes his career to James Dean's death. Films like The Long Hot Summer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth and Hud are obvious vehicles for James Dean in that period. Newman was virtually unknown when Dean died in 1955.

On the other hand, would a more mature James Dean had the rapport with Robert Redford to do Butch Cassidy and The Sting?

I've read elsewhere about Newman's alcoholism but obviously he remained functional. As far as addictions go it could have been a lot worse.

He’s dead — who cares?

Here is one thing that many posters here and other gossipy sites seem to not realize. The vast majority of people know nothing about the private lives of celebrities. They only know Paul as the actor of many films and fewer know him as being the husband of Joanne Woodward.