Paul Newman

Known almost as much for his blue eyes as for his acting talent, philanthropy and longevity, Paul Newman was born Jan. 26, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. From an early age, Newman was interested in stage acting, but never considered it as a profession until he went to college after serving in the South Pacific during World War II.

Moving to New York and attending the Actor's Studio, Newman starred in several stage productions before going to Hollywood. His first successful film was Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), playing boxer Rocky Graziano. This was soon followed by legendary turns in The Hustler, Hud and Cool Hand Luke.

His winning roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting paired him both times with Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill. Nominated for nine Oscars, Newman finally won for his work as aging pool shark Eddie Felson in The Color of Money (1986). Having retired from acting in 2006, he died on Sept. 26, 2008, at age 83 from cancer.

Cool Hand Luke

1967 NR

"What we have here is a failure to communicate." Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is a man who likes to do things his own way, which leads to a world of hurt when he ends up in a Southern prison camp -- and on the wrong side of its warden (Strother Martin). George Kennedy copped an Oscar as a fellow prisoner who tries to break Luke and later comes to revere him. The cast also includes a young Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton and Joe Don Baker.