Dan's Book Review: Paul Newman, Elizabeth Taylor

No, Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor did not have a torrid affair. Well, at least not as far as we know, anyway. Yes, they did star together in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof but in the middle of that pairing Taylor's beloved, Mike Todd died tragically and production of the film was halted. No one knew whether or not Liz would ever come back to the set. She did, but it wasn't because of anything Paul Newman said or did. In fact, when he went to comfort her he got all tongue tied and wound up awkwardly excusing himself.

Paul Newman was not terribly articulate. Yes, he was a fine actor but in real life he was enigmatic, brooding and often unapproachable. This is all revealed in the book Paul Newman, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man. Big portions of the book were written by Newman to be part of an autobiography that was never published. After Newman's death his children put the project back together and added recollections of those who knew him to provide a full picture of the man and his life.

Paul Newman hated all the fuss and attention that went along with being a movie star. He didn't like being recognized by people; he didn't like being stared at; he didn't like it if you asked for his autograph; he didn't like watching himself on the screen. He seemed tortured by all this and throughout the book Newman insists he doesn't know what his special talent is and why it brought him so much fame and fortune. Yes, he admits to being blessed with good looks but doesn't seem to understand why that would be so special. Bottom line: he doth protest too much!

Also, Newman never got over guilt that accompanied his sizzling affair with Joanne Woodward and the breakup of his first marriage. Though he and Woodward married and had three children of their own, Newman still had three kids from his first marriage.

You'll find no whining, no protesting or lamenting from Taylor in Kate Anderson Brower's  new book Elizabeth Taylor, The Grit and Glamour of an Icon. This authorized biography gives us Taylor as the ultimate child star who survived it all: the daily grind of movie mass production in the 1940s and '50s; the sex and drugs of the '60s; the upheaval and collapse of the studio system in the '70s; the wealth and high life of the '80s and the plague of HIV/AIDS that followed. Elizabeth Taylor was touched by all of it and more: unparalleled tragedy, ill health, near death experiences and eight failed marriages (Richard Burton, twice) to name just a few of the bumps along her life's journey.

Through it all, Taylor wore her stardom and notoriety like a second skin and rarely complained. She endured her movie flops, thumbed her nose at the critics, took repeated ridicule like a trooper and emerged as a sort of feisty, benevolent Earth Mother. 

To their credit, both Taylor and Newman raised millions for charity. In that sense, they were responsible stars who made sure to give back. 

Taylor was often loud, demonstrative and confrontational -- a shrewd broad who did not suffer fools gladly. Newman was more introverted, self-reflective and moody -- it was not always easy to know where you stood with him. After reading both these books, you come away feeling that Taylor probably would have been a lot more fun to hang out with.