CzechFolks.com

After a long battle with lung cancer, Paul Leonard Newman, has died at age 83 on Friday (September 26^th, 2008). Even though he was born in Cleveland, Ohio (January 26^th, 1925), his roots were partially in Slovakia. Paul Newman was an actor, film director, but also entrepreneur. He also loved auto racing and was a supporter of liberal activities. He will be missed for his philanthropy and deeds during his life.

Newman’s mother Theresa (Terezia Feckova) came from a small village in Humenne District of today’s Slovakia. She was catholic and his father, Arthur, was Jewish but Newman had described himself as Jewish as well. His mother worked in his father’s sporting goods store while taking care of Paul and his brother Arthur.

Paul Newman graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1943 and briefly attended Ohio University at Athens. Newman’s stay at the university was short-lived since he was expelled after a prank involving a keg of beer. WWII was underway and he enlisted into the Navy. He wanted to become a pilot but failed a pilot’s test due to color blindnessand. After the war, he attended Kenyon College on an athletic scholarship. He moved to acting after an “injury” ended his sports career.

Since then Newman won numerous awards: Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Emmy Award, BAFTA Award, Cannes Film Festival Award and many honorary awards. Newman loved acting but he was also involved in auto racing where he won several national championships: Sports Car Club of America, and Open Wheel Indy Car Racing. Most importantly, he was a co-founder of Newman’s Own Food Company from which he donated all post-tax profits and his royalties to charities. As of today, his donations have reached over $250 Mil.

Around June 2008, Newman’s spokesman announced that the star had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Newman was receiving chemotherapy but in August he told his family he wished to die at home (ARTICLE HERE). Three weeks later he died at age of 83 surrounded by his family and close friends. His daughter, Nell Newman, will continue to run his brand Newman’s Own. Even though we will miss him very much, we are pleased that his legacy will continue to provide funds to many charities and camps where many children will have another chance in their lives. Furthermore, his contributions to our economy, democracy and culture of American and Slovak life will stay with us forever.

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Paul Leonard Newman zemrel v patek 26. zari, 2008 po dlouhem boji s rakovinou plic. I kdyz byl narozen v Clevelandu, Ohio (26. ledna 1925), Newman je castecne puvodem ze Slovenska. Paul Newman byl hercem, reziserem ale take podnikatelem. Take miloval automobilove zavody a podporoval liberalni aktivity. Bude postradan pro jeho lidumilovnost a vykonane skutky v jeho zivote.

Newmanova matka Theresa (Terezia Feckova) pochazela z male vesnicky v okresu Humenne v dnesnim Slovensku. Byla katolicka a jeho otec, Arthur, byl zid. Newman ale se ale vylicil jako zid. Jeho matka pracovala v obchode se sportovnimi potrebami, ktery vlastnil jeho otec, a starala se o Paula a jeho bratra Arthura.

Paul Newman dokoncil stredni skolu Shaker Heights v roce 1943 a navstevoval kratce Ohio Univerzitu ve meste Athen. Moc dlouho ale na univerzite nezustal, protoze byl vyloucen po zertovnem kousku se sudem piva. Kdyz druha svetova valka byla v plnem proudu, Newman se prihlasil do valecneho lodstva. Chtel se stat pilotem, ale selhal v testu diky jeho barvosleposti. Po valce chodil na vysokou skolu Kenyon College kde ziskal atleticke stipendium. Pote se presunul na herectvi po jeho “urazu” v jeho sportovni kariere.

Od te doby Newman vyhral nekolik cen: Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Emmy Award, BAFTA Award, Cannes Film Festival Award a mnoho cestnych cen. Newman miloval herectvi, ale take se zapojoval do automobilovych zavodu, kde vyhral nekolik narodnich sampionatu: Sports Car Club of America a Open Wheel Indy Car Racing. Coz ale bylo nejdulezitejsi, Newman byl spoluzakladatelem spolecnosti Newman’s Own, z ktere daroval do charit cely zisk po zdaneni i jeho podily. K dnesku jeho dary dosahly castky vetsi nez 250 milionu USD.

Okolo cervna 2008 Newmanuv mluvci oznamil, ze byl diagnostikovan s rakovinou plic. Newman prosel chemoterapii, ale v srpnu rekl sve rodine, ze si preje zemrit doma (CLANEK ZDE POUZE V ANGLICTINE). Po trech tydnech zemrel ve svych 83. letech v okoli sve rodiny a blizkych pratel. Jeho dcera, Nell Newman, bude pokracovat v jeho znacce Newman’s Own. I kdyz ho budeme velmi postradat, jsme poteseni, ze jeho odkaz bude pokracovat v poskytovani peneznich prostredku mnoha charitam a taborum, ktere daji mnoha detem dalsi sance k zivotu. Mimoto, jeho prinos do nasi ekonomiky, demokracie a kultury Americkych a Slovenskych obcanu s nami zustane navzdy.

Sources and more information (Zdroje a vice informaci v anlictine):

http://www.newmansown.com

http://www.awardsdaily.com

http://www.helium.com/items/906041-biography-paul-newman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Newman