Paul Newman Health Rumors Cloud the Internet
I read last night that Paul Newman is gravely ill and that it may be terminal lung cancer.
I debated all day long whether to say anything about it for fear of legitimizing in even the tiniest way the civic embarrassment known as The Dish Rag, the gossip column updated regularly by Elizabeth Snead on the LA Times website and constantly clogging my feed of entertainment news with salacious garbage.
The Rag’s source it turns out is a UK tabloid that in turn pins the story on two unnamed US publications. I’m not linking to any of these vultures because they make me sick to my stomach.
Earlier this evening, Steve Gorman reported for Reuters that Newman spokesman Jeff Sanderson would neither confirm nor deny any illness saying only ”Newman says he’s doing nicely.”
Meanwhile, via Hollywood Elsewhere I see that the Oregonian’s Shawn Levy, who is writing a biography of Mr. Newman, said on his blog this morning in response to the rumors: “I have known for a while that Newman was very ill, probably with cancer…” He adds that he has no reason not to believe the reports.
Whatever Newman’s condition and whatever the prognosis, it’s pretty clear he isn’t interested in talking and neither is his family. They shouldn’t have to, but unfortunately plenty of people are doing the talking for them. It sucks, but there it is.
I feel tacky adding to the back fence gossip, but it seems almost foolish not to at this point.
Needless to say, my best wishes go out to Mr. Newman and his family.
Filed under: Rumors
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Wow… I hope the rags are wrong.
Thanks to Chuck over at Bowen’s Cinematic, just a week and a day ago I saw The Left Handed Gun, featuring one of his best performances. The next night, revisited John Huston’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with him playing the notorious Western judge. The man was so good-looking and such a natural movie star, critics often denied his deeper, magnetic talents as an actor, especially in his earlier years.
Anyhow, just my way of repeating Hedwig’s hope. Beyond being a hugely talented man, his charitable efforts and grounded, unsensational private family life, speak volumes about his genuine being.
I saw this on ET last night, along with recent video of Paul Newman looking really gaunt. Their report seemed pretty unequivocal and left little doubt. Mentioned specifically the awful phrase “terminal lung cancer.”
I hate to think it’s true too, but I hate worse to have the rumor mills whispering without nailing it down, so we can all start to cope with the very sad reality.
My hopes go out to this peerless living legend-this is the sort of potential loss that hits hard-like someone you actually know. A cliche, but that’s what these sorts of scenarios sometimes reduce us to.
My fingers are crossed that this is just some horrible rumor based on nothing more than observations and miscommunications. Paul Newman is one of the greats from his era.
Newman is living proof that you can be really really big in Hollywood and still be really really real.
He is the coolest from every angle: Celebrity, citizen, movie star, artist, crush, race car driver. Name it.
Well, I tried to publish something definitive on site, but Mr. Newman’s friend that SUPPOSEDLY was interviewed by the AP earlier today (and confirmed that Mr. Newman actually has cancer) is now denying that that interview ever took place.
In the meantime, Mr. Newman has ALLEGEDLY put out a rather vague statement where he claims that he’s “doing nicely”.
So we’re back to speculation now - and no one really knows anything. But after Heath, Mr. Minghella and Mr. Pollack, I don’t even want to think about someone that I admire and idolize to that degree being seriously ill.
It’s been an exceptionally bad year for that…and I just can’t deal with it any more.