Word: actorly
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...ascension up the Hollywood hierarchy was anything but. Though blessed with good luck and good looks, Newman also relied on a rigorous work ethic and a determination to overcome savage criticism. In a typically revealing aside, Levy, a film critic for the Oregonian, recalls a slap the young actor suffered early in his career. In January 1953, after being promoted from understudy to the lead role in the hit Broadway play Picnic, Newman's director told the blue-eyed actor, "You don't carry any sexual threat at all." It was an insult that Newman said he spent 20 years...
...Scenes like this stream through Levy's sweeping tribute to Newman, who passed away last September at the age of 83. The iconic actor was both a vintage superstar and an anticelebrity, a man who worked tirelessly to impress audiences even as he built his home in Connecticut, thousands of miles away from Beverly Hills. Newman devoted himself to philanthropy before it was fashionable, turned his back on the Oscars after being snubbed repeatedly (he went so far as to boycott a ceremony at which he was given an honorary award) and remained married to his second wife for half...
...Given his film expertise, one might expect Levy to build this biography around an analysis of Newman's films and his place in the cinematic canon. Instead, Levy offers reportage as impressive as his critical insights. Paul Newman: A Life is a layered and absorbing portrait of how the actor's personal life differed from his public persona. Levy paints Newman not just as a movie star but as a determined entrepreneur, family man and racer - a man who admitted mistakes as he made them, took advantage of good luck when it came his way, and did his best...
...cast speak - not sing - the lyrics. He found that, unlike the numbers in most musicals, they didn't stop the show, but rather carried it on, each song a little scene in its own right, deepening the characters while advancing the plot. "I approach characters like an actor approaches them," says Sondheim. "With the risk of only slight exaggeration, by the time I have written a score I know the book better than the author does. I've examined every word, and why [a character] says...
...Brooks recognized his comedic talent and rewarded Dom DeLuise, 75, with roles in several Brooks movies, including Blazing Saddles and History of the World, Part I. The burly actor and chef also often appeared alongside Burt Reynolds in films like The Cannonball...