A shocking new biography of screen star Paul Newman asserts he was bisexual and had affairs with Marlon Brando, James Dean, Mongomery Clift, Anthony Perkins, Sal Mineo, John Derek, Steve McQueen and other men.
Paul Newman was an Academy Award-winning actor, championship race car driver, salad dressing king and humanitarian. The company he co-founded, Newman's Own, donates its profits to charity--over 280 million, so far.
Interviews with Newman's friends, colleagues and a few ex-lovers paint a picture of a star so gorgeous that all the most beautiful of Hollywood, both male and female wanted to bed him.
According to this new biography (one of seven bisexual biographies published this year), Newman had affairs with most of his leading ladies, along with a stream of cougarish Hollywood divas who invited him to their homes and hotels to "audition" him for projects they were considering.
Most of us think of Paul Newman as the long-time monogamous husband of actress Joanne Woodward. "Why go out for hamburger when you have steak at home?" was Newman's usual quote, when asked why their relationship was so long lasting. But, despite the fact that he always returned home, he apparently took advantage of a large variety of sexual opportunities that came his way, both male and female. Even his relationship with Woodward began as an affair during his marriage to first wife Jackie Witte. Newman had a total of six children, three with each wife.
I'll be following up with a full profile of Paul Newman soon.
Paul Newman: The Man Behind the Baby Blues by Darwin Porter is available through publisher Blood Moon Productions or in bookstores, etc. This book was nominated for the 2009 Bisexual Lammy Award for Nonfiction. The Lammys or Lambda Literary Awards give awards for excellence in LGBT books.
Comments
Is nothing sacred. I don't want to know how many people Paul slept with. He left a great legacy of charity for the underprivileged.
The fact that Paul Newman slept with men and women does not diminish his legacy in any way. I like him better now.
Do you know this from experience....sleeping with men and women?
Not sure what you mean by "from experience" ...I read the biography by Darwin Porter I mentioned in the article.
I'm not clear if you're asking me how I know that Paul Newman was bisexual or if I have had relationships with both men and women? Please clarify.
Another sleazy tabloid tell-all from Darwin Porter. He has a knack for writing these things about the dead. I don't believe a word of it.
Don't buy it either...Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward's love was the real deal.
He & Joan $upported gay & tg orgs.
Joan & other famous L's came to every fund raiser for Queen's Liberation Front. I was there as a QLF activist
It's sad that so much of our history got erased by HIV.
We all assumed they were at least Bi
How "clean" are you? How many skeletons do you have in your closet... Do you think that you are a saint, writing filth about those that have passed on. I would really like to know your story!!!
Tony, I am definitely not a saint and I dont expect anyone else to be either. The Newman biography is shocking because, unlike many other bi & gay celebrities, there were no rumors circulating throughout the LGBT community about Paul Newman. If everyone were heterosexual and monogamous, biographies would be boring to read. I am interested in the truth of people's lives, not the fiction. To me, it makes him a more interesting person and doesnt diminish his talent one whit. I also believe that Paul and Joanne were very much in love and worked together as life partners. But life is usually messier than most people would like to admit. It's just that most people dont have biographies written about them so are able to keep their secrets.
I personally am a fan of open relationships, which offers people variety of life experience, committed relationships, preserves honesty and eliminates cheating.
He's passed on, only matters to the public and fans if he were alive. I was intrigued and fascinated, had to buy the book despite some trepidation. His bisexuality & affairs of the past do not take away from either his philanthropic or humanitarian works & efforts that extended to gay rights & marriage! Nor did these affairs terminate his ideal & long standing marriage to his 2nd wife Joanne Woodward. In his 20's he'd decided that he wanted & needed a marriage, he couldn't live as a gay man, despite his attraction to certain men. He was human after all, but therein lies the complexity of the human mind.
I'm a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being... by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant. ~Paul Newman
The book isn't tabloidy, just information gathered from those in the know, including his then confidantes, Eartha Kitt, Rod Steiger, Janice Rule and even Lee Strasberg, perhaps he spoke too much, but privately said he wasn't ashamed. It presents him in a very human and realistic way, sexual and otherwise! There were three men who wanted to run away with him, James Dean, Sal Mineo and, later Brandon De Wilde who'd been previously married. None of his past entanglements take away from his marriage, or what he accomplished, and never will! I have to admit that a secret or secrets have a way of revealing themselves, at some point.
Brandon de Wilde was bisexual?
Geez, I'd have slept with him, too, if he hit on me.
Of Course Newman looses nothing by being bi-sexual, but Darwin Porter will write anything to sell books. Consider the author's intent before taking their books seriously.
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