He was 83, but we thought he would always be around. After half a century of acting, directing and producing movies, the famous actor lost his battle against cancer, at the end of almost two years of fighting the disease.

Word of his illness was first out earlier this year, when Newman, citing health issues, dropped out of directing a fall production of "Of Mice and Men." He finished chemotherapy treatment in August, but said he was “doing nicely,” despite rumors that he didn’t have much to live.

The ten-time Oscar nominee also announced last year his retirement from the silverscreen, saying, "I'm not able to work anymore ... at the level that I would want to. You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention."

Still, the announcement of the actor’s death came as a shock to the world, as most of us living today got used to seeing his sparkling blue eyes and unmistakable smile in movies for all our lives. He died quietly at his farmhouse near Westport, Conn., surrounded by his family and close friends, said his Los Angeles-based publicist Jeff Sanderson.

A well-known philanthropist, Paul Newman reportedly gave more than $250 million to thousands of charities worldwide, through his famous "Newman's Own," a company founded In 1982 that began producing salad dressing and now also makes pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa and dog food. All proceeds from the sale of Newman's Own products, after taxes, are given away to charity programs, like the 1999 donation of $250,000, for the relief of Kosovo refugees or the $10 million for the Kenyon College in 2007.

In 1988, the actor and his wife of 50 years, Joanne Woodward, founded the “Hole in the Wall Gang Camp,” named after the outlaws in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), a residential summer camp located in Ashford, Connecticut where about 13,000 terminally ill children can enjoy their vacation every year, free of charge.

But aside from his impressive generosity and altruism, Paul Newman was a great actor, a silver screen legend for 50 years and brought to life some of the most memorable characters of all time in movies like “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” opposite Elisabeth Taylor, “The Hustler”, and “Cool Hand Luke.”

He then starred in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting” along with fellow blue-eyed-wonderboy Robert Redford, making the two one of the greatest pair that Hollywood has ever seen.

His role of "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese directed “The Color of Money” (1986) landed Newman an Academy Award for best actor, which added-up to the other honorary Oscars he received.

Just like Empire Magazine once named him, putting him on the same shortlist with Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, and Jack Nicholson, he was “A God Among Us" and he will be forever missed by millions all around the world.