Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.Photo:Stewart Stern / Joanne Woodward Newman
Stewart Stern / Joanne Woodward Newman
For many, Hollywood power couplePaul NewmanandJoanne Woodwardrepresented the ultimate in movie-star allure.
Together, the actors held two Academy Awards, four Emmys and a long résumé of classic movies such asButch Cassidy and the Sundance KidandThe Three Faces of Eve. Their partnership has also been the basis for recent projects includingEthan Hawke’s Max miniseriesThe Last Movie Starsand Newman’s posthumous memoir,The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, both released in 2022.Behind closed doors, however, the iconic stars revealed a softer side.“They could have their knockdown, drag out fights, but they always came clinging back to each other,” their daughter, artist and former actress Melissa Newman, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Which is amazing in Hollywood — that they managed to navigate this relationship.”
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.Joanne Woodward Newman
Joanne Woodward Newman
“There’s so many pictures of my parents with cameras hanging around their necks,” Melissa says. “My dad used to walk around with a hammer and nails. Every time a new photograph [came in], or he decided to put something on the wall…he would just be walking around looking for a spot.”
Paul Newman with daughters Nell and Melissa.Joanne Woodward/ Joanne Woodward Newman
Joanne Woodward/ Joanne Woodward Newman
Head Over Heelsfeatures photos that were in Melissa’s childhood home. The book, which she says is “loosely thematic,” also incorporates quotes from her parents collected from interviews, transcripts and “charmingly naughty” letters between the couple.
Paul Newman.Stewart Stern / Joanne Woodward Newman
“My dad was a goofball,” Melissa says. “He really was. He was a silly goof, like a college frat boy in a way, with the beer drinking. And he just had a really silly sense of humor, which made him a wonderful grandfather. He was really fun with kids.”
His philanthropy includes initiatives likethe Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, created for children with serious illnesses and their families. Melissa says that, to her, “that’s really the purest iteration of his legacy.”
Woodward, Melissa says, was often behind the camera, but had “a free spirit.” She recalls seeing photos of her mother, now 93, in costumes from her movies. One such photo that didn’t make the book features Woodward after she cut her hair with fingernail scissors for her 1955 filmCount Three and Pray. Woodward claimed that her character, Lissy, would never wear her hair in the poofy braid that was originally planned.
“[My dad] really felt like my mother was the most important,” Melissa says. “As far as being an actor, he placed my mother above him as an actor till the day he died, I think.”
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.Stewart Stern / Joanne Woodward Newman
Though her parents’ relationship was both “sweet” and “turbulent,” Melissa intends forHead Over Heelsto showcase “the most beautiful, wonderful and intriguing aspect of their relationship, which was their relationship.”
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“This is really, really just about their romance, which was complex," she says. “It wasn’t simple. It wasn’t all roses. And between the quotes and the photographs, I think when you get to the end of the book, you really feel as though you’ve been with them.”Head Over Heelsis now available.
source: people.com
