Hollywood has seen many golden couples come and go. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio are just a few of them.
But when it comes to legendary celebrity couples, one cannot fail to mention the late Paul Newman and Joan Woodward, who is now 92.
Paul and Joanne married in 1958 and remained married until Newman’s death in 2008 at the age of 83. Joanne and Paul spent 50 years together, acting in films, travelling and raising children.
But did you know that Woodward wasn’t impressed with her future husband when they first met?
Joan Woodward and Paul Newman
Paul Newman is one of the most beloved actors and performers of his generation. Together with Joan Woodward, they were Hollywood’s eternal golden couple.
People may think that Newman was the only star in this relationship. But in fact, Joanne Woodward can look back on a successful career, winning numerous awards and shining as one of Hollywood’s biggest and brightest stars.
She was highly respected for her compelling and magnificent roles in film, theatre, and television. Joanne stood out from other Hollywood actresses of the 1950s by playing strong and independent roles instead of the helpless ones that were often given to women at the time.
Joanne Woodward was born on 27 February 1930 in Thomasville, Georgia.
She attended Greenville High School in South Carolina, and while still a teenager, Joanne won several beauty contests.
Her acting career began in secondary school, where she appeared in several theatre productions.
She played Laura Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and returned to Greenville in the 1970s to perform in the same play again, this time as Amanda Wingfield.
Married in Las Vegas
In 1955, at the age of 25, Joanne returned to Greenville for the premiere of her debut film, Count to Three and Pray.
After graduating from high school, Joanne moved to Louisiana, where she studied drama at Louisiana State University. She later moved to New York City, where she performed on stage.
Joanne’s decision to move to New York proved to be a very fortunate one. In 1953, she met her future husband, Paul Newman.
At the time, Newman was married to his first wife, Jackie Whitt.
Joanne had recently graduated from Louisiana State University and was an understudy in the Broadway play Picnic. Newman played the lead role in the play, and soon love blossomed between them.
Many years ago, in an interview on the Today programme, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward talked about the day they first met.
It was a hot summer day, Newman was wearing a silk suit, wasn’t sweating, and, according to Joanne, looked like ‘an ice cream advertisement’.
‘I was hot, I was sweating, and my hair was stuck around my neck,’ Joanne later said.
In Newman’s biography, written by Marian Edelman Borden, the author revealed that Woodward said:
‘I hated him at first sight, but he was so funny, handsome and neat.’
It took four years before Newman and Woodward took their relationship to the next level. They had been friends since they met, but while working together on the film The Long, Hot Summer (1957), their relationship blossomed into something more.
A wonderful love story
Newman divorced his wife Jackie immediately after filming The Long, Hot Summer in 1957. The couple had three children.
Shortly after separating from Jackie, Paul married Joanne on 29 January 1858.
Joanne and Paul were married in Las Vegas and spent their honeymoon in Europe.
Newlyweds, they couldn’t get enough of the press attention given to Hollywood’s golden stars. Journalists followed them throughout their honeymoon, making them a favourite celebrity couple among the public.
It was the beginning of a happy, charming and beautiful love story.
After a six-week honeymoon, Paul and Joanna moved into their 18th-century farmhouse in Connecticut.
In a 2001 interview with the Daily News, Joanna explained that the decision to move into this house rather than Los Angeles was crucial to their marriage.
‘We were never Hollywood people. We just liked it better here. It probably also helped that we always enjoyed each other’s company,’ Joanna said.
1958 was also the year that made Woodward immortal in Hollywood. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in The Three Faces of Eve and was nominated for another Oscar for her role in Rachel, Rachel in 1969. The latter film was directed by Paul Newman.
Oscar winner
She was later nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in 1974 for the film Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams and in 1991 for the film Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.
Her husband also won an Oscar for Best Actor. In 1987, he won it for his role in the film The Color of Money.
Woodward also won two Emmy Awards for Best Actress in the films Look How She Runs (1978) and Remember the Love? (1985). She was nominated for this award five more times.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a famous Hollywood landmark where thousands of actors, directors and musicians have received their stars.
But who was the first person to be honoured on this historic walkway? Yes, you guessed it. According to History, it was Joan Woodward who received her star during the official groundbreaking ceremony on 9 February 1960.
Paul Newman and Joan Woodward decided to raise their family in Connecticut, away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, their 55-year-old daughter Clea spoke about her mother:
‘My mother was way ahead of her time,’ she says. “She was involved in the women’s rights movement before it became mainstream, and she was a very caring mother; when I was little, she breastfed me right on the set. She would stop the cameras in the middle of a scene and say, ‘Excuse me, I have to feed my baby.
Paul had three children from his first marriage: a son, Scott (born in 1950), and daughters Susan (born in 1953) and Stephanie Kendall (born in 1954).
In 1975, the family suffered a tragic loss: Scott died of a drug overdose after a motorcycle accident.
Five years later, Paul founded the Scott Newman Centre. It educates children about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.
‘Nothing can take away my guilt over Scott. It will be with me for the rest of my life,’ Paul Newman said after his son’s death, according to The Times.
Joan Woodward — family
Joan gave birth to three daughters: Eleanor Theresa (born in 1959), Melissa Stewart (born in 1961) and Claire Olivia (born in 1965).
As a child, Melissa appeared in several television series, as well as in the film Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), which also starred her parents.
Joanne and Paul continued to live a wonderful life together in Connecticut.
People admired their loving relationship, and actor Liev Schreiber shared a beautiful story about how they were still deeply in love even after 40 years of marriage.
It happened while working on the film Twilight (1998), when Joanne came to the set.
‘He put his arm around my shoulders and said, “Look at her bum.” It seemed like the perfect relationship to me. I love that a man who is almost 80 still loves his wife’s bum,’ Schreiber said in an interview with Elle.
Despite their age, Paul and Joanne never slowed down. From 2001 to 2005, she was the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, and she also starred alongside her husband in the television series Empire Falls.
Paul passed away
However, in 2008, after 50 years of marriage, this love story came to an end.
Paul Newman passed away in 2008 after battling cancer at the age of 83. The legendary actor who played Butch Cassidy was honoured and revered throughout the film industry.
After the death of her beloved husband, Newman’s estate went to Joan and various charities.
Joan and Paul were one of Hollywood’s true golden couples, as such a long and happy marriage is a rarity in show business.
The couple maintained their love for each other with playfulness and became known for their involvement in politics and charity, balancing their work and family life.
Daughter speaks out
In addition, the couple created the famous Newman’s Own salad dressing, all profits from which go to charity.
‘They loved each other like newlyweds,’ Bob Forrester, a friend of the family, told People magazine. ‘When I flew with him around the world, as soon as the plane landed, Paul would call Joan and always say, “I love you,” even after 50 years of marriage. She was everything to him. They were soul mates.’
After the death of her beloved husband, Newman’s estate was bequeathed to Joan and various charities.
According to Joan, the secret to their marriage’s success was quite simple.
‘We could talk to each other, we could say anything to each other without fear of ridicule or rejection. There was trust,’ she said, according to Honey Nine.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, daughter Clea talks about her mother Joanna, now 92, and how similar they are.
‘I wish I had my mother’s skin,’ she said. ‘I have more wrinkles than she does, and she’s 86! Her skin is annoying, she’s so beautiful. But she used sunscreen before it even existed. I’ve never seen her not wear a hat in the sun.’
Three years ago, it was announced that Ethan Hawke would be making a documentary about the lives and careers of Joanne and Paul. According to Deadline, the family has given their consent.
In his statement, Hawke promised ‘a rare and exclusive look at both actors’ careers and their complex 50-year relationship, which ultimately overcame incredible obstacles.’
Joan Woodward in 2023
As of 2023, Joan Woodward has retired from acting. The 92-year-old actress voiced Doris in the 2013 film Lucky Tam, but has not appeared in any films since then.
The iconic actress has not appeared in public since 2013, and there have been reports in the media that she is battling serious health issues.
According to Closer magazine, Woodward is battling Alzheimer’s disease. USA Today reports that Joanne was diagnosed in 2007, just days before Paul Newman was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Joanne was back in the spotlight in 2022 with the premiere of Ethan Hawke’s six-part documentary series about Woodward and Newman.
Hopefully, Joanne was able to enjoy it.
‘That’s why the family wanted me to do it now,’ Hawke said in 2020, continuing:
‘They wanted it to come out while she was still alive and could see it, to support her.’
According to Closer, Joanne Woodward still lives in the house in Westport, Connecticut, where her husband died in 2008 at the age of 83.
Joanna Woodward and Claire Newman attend the ‘Paul Newman’s Dream’ celebration in support of the Paul Newman Foundation’s Hole in the Wall Camps at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Centre, on 2 April 2012 in New York City. (Photo: Gilbert Carrasquillo/FilmMagic)
The love story of Joanna Woodward and Paul Newman is certainly a special one. We are so happy that they were married for over 50 years. A true Hollywood golden couple that the world may never see again.
Share their story with your friends and family.
