Joanne Woodward is a well-known Hollywood actress who has acted in movies such as “The Three Faces of Eve” and “Count Three and Pray.” The renowned performer won an Oscar for her performance in “The Three Faces of Eve” as a lady with multiple personality disorder.
Her agency introduced Paul Newman to her. Woodward and Paul became good friends while working as understudies for the Broadway show “Picnic” in the early 1950s.
Yet, because Paul was married, nothing amorous occurred between them. When they eventually got together, they were “passionately in love” for nearly five decades, but they also had ups and downs.
According to their daughter, Clea Newman Soderlund, her parents shared a “unique” devotion and an extraordinary bond. Soderlund claims they laughed more than any other couple she’s ever known while also respecting one another.
Paul died in 2008 at the age of 83, after a 50-year marriage. The remorse the “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” star experienced for leaving his family when he married Woodward was one of the reasons that threw the marriage off.
The couple also dealt with animosity, sorrow, and substance misuse. A friend of the couple said that the couple had “a give-and-take on both sides,” but their love and strong friendship were “unbreakable.”
Before marrying Woodward in Las Vegas, the “Cool Hand Luke” actor divorced his wife, Jackie, in 1958. Apart from the actress’s Oscar triumph, Paul’s career took off with his first Oscar nomination for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in 1959.
According to a friend, he didn’t visit his children from his former marriage on a regular basis, due in part to his hectic filmmaking schedule. Scott Newman, his son, resented his father’s departure and “disliked” his second wife, “Integrity.”
Woodward and Paul had three kids, and she put her career on hiatus for several years to raise them while coping with her husband’s drinking issue. An acquaintance, who was aware of the actor’s alcoholism and suspected affair with Nancy Bacon in 1969, stated:
“Much of their disputes revolved around his inability to control it and the problems he would get into as a result.”
What kept the duo together was Paul’s determination to make atonement. According to a source, he recognized his wife’s efforts for their marriage and family and tried his best to contribute.
To help his wife’s career, Woodward’s husband directed and produced numerous of her films. Unfortunately, the actress later in life suffered from an ailment that would erase her memories of Paul.
On February 27, 2023, Woodward celebrated her 93rd birthday while battling Alzheimer’s disease. She was first diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2007, and while coping with that, she realized she had Alzheimer’s a few days later.
According to Ethan Hawke, who directed the six-part documentary series “The Last Movie Stars” on the couple, Woodward’s family requested the documentary because of her prognosis. The actress’s family wanted the special to air while she was still alive and able to view it.
Paul had referred to his wife as “one of the last great broads,” and she had hailed him as a romantic and the most compassionate man she’d ever known. The performers who co-starred in “The Long, Hot Summer” in 1958 were made for each other.
But Woodward’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis made her unable to recall the wonderful memories she had had with her true love. A family insider said in 2015 that the actress’s health was “deteriorating fast,” adding:
“Joanne will occasionally mention that she was married to a gorgeous man, but that’s it. She has no recollection of her life’s love.”
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His wife began to display signs of worry soon after Paul died of cancer. According to a source, Woodward’s children saw mom getting a little disoriented and assumed it was due to depression following the loss of her spouse.
But, by 2015, her Alzheimer’s had progressed to the point that she required 24-hour care. According to the insider, the actress barely talked and didn’t know her kids, Nell, Melissa, and Claire, as well as her grandchildren, which was a devastating way to see her.
But her children stayed by her side, and the person who told her about Melissa called her a “godsend.” The actress’s daughter stayed in her parents’ former Connecticut house, close to Woodward’s, and had a health care team that kept her children updated on her development.
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Paul’s wife was treated at Yale University’s Adler Geriatric Assessment Center for a while. The actress underwent a pharmacological trial that resulted in weight gain, but she was unlikely to return since her children believed she’d gone as far as she could with it.
Nell marked Mother’s Day in 2022 with an Instagram photo of her mother from the present. The actress’s weight gain was noticeable, but she still looked lovely and healthy as she smiled joyously as Nell embraced her.
In the caption of her photo, Nell wrote that Woodward was her “best friend for life.” She also said that her mother was kind, smart, patient, and creative in ways that always amazed her.
In the same month, Nell shared a cute picture of her mother dancing with her grandson Henny, which showed that her mother was still living a full life. As the actress’s mother focused on keeping her healthy, one of them was fighting another war.
Paul has other children with his previous wife in addition to his three children with Woodward. Elinor Teresa Newman was born on April 8, 1959. She was his first child with the actress. In the 1960s and 1970s, she was known as Nell Potts when she was a child performer.
Nell starred in “The Impact of Gama Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” and “Rachel, Rachel.” She co-founded Newman’s Own Organics as a subsidiary of Newman’s Own, which she conceptualized in 1993 while serving as the director of the Ventana Wilderness Sanctuary in central California.
Nell had a falling out with Newman’s Own when Paul died, and her firm was barred from releasing new items. Newman’s Own, Inc. decided to create a rival item, and Nell’s license deal with her father’s name and image terminated in 2014.
She was told she couldn’t work there anymore, so Nell sold the company to Newman’s Own, Inc. instead of putting the jobs of 30 people at risk. Mellissa Newman, Nell’s sister, was born on September 27, 1961.
Claire [“Clea” Soderlund] felt honored and grateful to be a part of Paul’s [Newman’s] legacy.
She also began acting, appearing in films such as “Hawkins and the New Perry Mason,” “See How She Runs,” “Mr. & Mrs. Bridge,” and “Sometimes a Great Country.” Melissa married Raphael P. Elkind in November 1995, and they had two kids, Peter and Henry, while Melissa volunteered at a Connecticut women’s jail.
Claire “Clea” Soderlund, Paul’s last-born child, was born in April 1965. She was a production consultant on “Big Little Lies” and worked in post-production on “Mad Men,” “The Big C,” and “Raising the Bar.”
She co-produced “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” in 2020 and worked on “Sharp Objects,” “Big Little Lies,” and “The Big C.” Claire married Kurt Soderlund and undertook charitable work in Westport and beyond.
Woodword’s last-born daughter once remarked that their parents instilled in them from an early age the importance of being excellent community citizens and giving back. Claire considered it an honor and a great gift to be a part of Paul’s legacy.