Hollywood Legend Paul Newman #532: Lester David Papers

Published October 2, 2025 at 6:00 AM MDT

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Cover of Saturday Review magazine, featuring Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas in the movie Hud, May 25, 1963. Box 61, Lester David papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Paul Newman from McCall’s magazine, March 1989. Box 62, Lester David papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of Paul Newman on the racetrack from People magazine, June 25, 1979. Box 62, Lester David papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Article about Paul Newman’s Hole-in-the-Wall-Gang Camp for kids from Ladies Home Journal magazine, July 1988. Box 62, Lester David papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Paul Newman was a man of many talents. Best known as a star of screen, stage, and television, he was also a competitive race car driver, food company founder, philanthropist, and a liberal political activist. Newman was born on January 26, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio.

He made his acting debut at the age of 10. He joined the Navy after high school and served as a radio operator on naval torpedo planes during World War II. Following the war, he went on to major in dramatics and economics at Kenyon College.

Before long Newman had made a name for himself performing in summer stock and community theatre productions. He did postgraduate studies at Yale and then moved to New York in 1951. He found work performing on television almost immediately. From the mid-1950s on, Newman was one of film’s most dominant male stars. He was awarded an Oscar, Emmy and multiple Golden Globes.

See the Lester David papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.