Paul Leonard Newman was born on 26 January 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio USA of Slovak (mother) and Jewish/Hungarian-Polish (father) descent. He is still a legendary actor, film director, entrepreneur, professional racing driver, auto racing team owner. Being a winner of various awards including Academy Award for the Best Actor and Performance, six Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Cannes Film Festival Award and Emmy Award added a lot to the total amount of Paul Newman’s wealth.
So just how rich was Paul Newman? Sources estimate that Paul’s net worth was $50 million, accumulated during his acting career spanning over 50 years, plus business interests.
Paul Newman Net Worth $50 Million
Paul Newman was a wireless operator-air gunner in the US Navy during World War 2, after which he graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics, then attending the Yale School of Drama and touring with the Woodstock theatre company. He settled in New York in 1951, performing in Broadway productions, and then on television. However, Newman’s net worth rose significantly from the early years of his career as an actor in films, because Paul won the Cinema Writers Circle Award for Best Foreign Actor in 1956, for his Rocky Graziano role in ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me’ directed by Robert Wise. In 1958, Newman increased his net worth through his Best Actor Award in the Cannes Film Festival, for his Ben Quick role in ‘The Long, Hot Summer’ directed by Martin Ritt. In 1961, he received three Awards for his prominent role of Eddie Felson in the film ‘Hustler’ directed by Robert Rossen.
Paul’s net worth rose further after he showed up on TV, the most successful work being the winner of World TV Festival Awards, ‘Once Upon a Wheel’ television documentary on auto racing in which Paul Newman was the host, working with Mario Andretti, Hugh Downs, Dean Martin and Cesar Romero.
Other subsequent works which brought Awards to Paul Newman’s collection were his roles in ‘The Verdict’ directed by Sidney Lumet, ‘The Color of Money” directed by Martin Scorsese, ‘Nobody’s Fool’ directed by Robert Benton and co-starring with Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh and Bruce Willis, ‘Road to Perdition’ by Sam Mendes, ‘Our Town’ directed by James Naughton, ‘Empire Falls’ directed by Fred Scheipisi co-starring with Helen Hunt, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joanne Woodward.
Paul Newman’s other outstanding performances included roles in ‘Exodus'(1960), “Hud”(1963), “Harper” (1966), “Hombre”(1967), “Cool Hand Luke”(1967), “The Towering Inferno”(1974), and “Slap Shot”(1977). He teamed with Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”(1969) and “The Sting”(1973). Paul Newman’s net worth indeed rose consistently.
However, Paul’s wealth increased not only through his career in cinema and television, but also through his car racing and the owner of racing team. Paul Newman himself won four national championships in Sports Car Club of America. Then he formed a professional auto team called ‘Newman Freeman Racing’.
In his personal life, Paul Newman was married to Jackie Witte(1949-58), and they had three children, one – Scott – dying after overdosing on drugs. Paul Newman established Newman Centre for drug abuse prevention in the memory of his son. In 1958 Paul Newman married actress Joanne Woodward, and they also had three children. Paul Newman died in 2008 from lung cancer.
