WASHINGTON — The U.S.
House unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday honoring the life, achievements and contributions of actor and philanthropist Paul Newman who died at his Westport home Sept. 26. Newman, a 10-time Academy Award nominee, died at 83. He and his wife, Joanne Woodward, settled in Westport shortly after they were married in 1958. Woodward later said that when they moved to the town — spending $96,000 in 1960 for a house and two barns — they came for the same reason that drew so many to the suburbs during the Eisenhower and Kennedy eras: They wanted a quiet place to raise their children, The Advocate wrote at the time of his death. The resolution was introduced by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., who has been a longtime admirer of Newman’s philanthropic endeavors. He also introduced a resolution honoring Newman in 1985 as a member of the Tennessee Senate. “I just thought Paul Newman was one of the finest people,” Cohen said earlier this year. “I ate his popcorn and liked the idea that the money goes to charity. It’s such a great thing and so giving of him.” Newman received his first Academy Award nomination in 1959 for “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.” He also was nominated for “The Hustler” (1961), for “Hud” (1963), and for “Cool Hand Luke” (1967). Newman launched his charitable food company in 1982 with a salad dressing first mixed in the basement of the horse barn on his Connecticut property. Cohen said he was
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Vernon, spoke Tuesday in favor of the resolution but mostly to express kind words for Newman.