Unfortunately, the screen legend Paul Newman has lost the battle with cancer. According to his spokesperson, Marni Tomljanovic, Paul Newman died on Friday at the age of 83. No other details were immediately available.

Born to a prosperous Jewish father and Catholic Hungarian mother on January 26, 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Newman was encouraged in his theatrical ambitions as a youngster and made his acting debut aged seven in his school play. He served as a tail-gunner in the Pacific during WWII and later studied acting at Yale University.

He went on to study at the acclaimed Actors Studio in New York, and the magnetism of his personality shone through as soon as he appeared on screen.

Paul Newman’s first major role was as boxer Rocky Graziano in “Somebody Up There Likes Me” (1956) followed by a star turn opposite Elizabeth Taylor in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” in 1958, for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

In 1960 he starred as a Zionist pioneer in “Exodus”, following that with classic roles as a young pool shooter in “The Hustler”, a heartless cowboy in “Hud” and a lovable but rebellious prisoner in “Cool Hand Luke”, three roles which also earned him Oscar nominations.

But his most famous role came when be teamed up with Robert Redford for “Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid” in 1969, where the Hollywood icons played a pair of famous outlaws. They reprised their famous partnership in the 1973 movie “The Sting”.

He was again nominated for an Oscar in 1981 for his role as a mobster's son falsely accused of murder in Absence of Malice, but had to wait until 1986 to collect acting's ultimate accolade when he won an Oscar for reprising his role as Fast Eddie from The Hustler in Martin Scorsese's film “The Colour of Money”. He also won a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year - Actor following his role in The Silver Chalice (1957). He was also granted a Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1984 for Lifetime Achievement.
But life brought hardships and to his credit Newman sought to make the best of them.

When his son Scott died from a drug overdose in 1978 Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, founded the Scott Newman Centre, which works to prevent substance abuse through education, and runs a camp for children and families whose lives have been affected by drugs, alcohol abuse, or domestic violence. The couple also toned down their lifestyle, and went public with their grief - wondering aloud whether their earlier lifestyles had deprived Scott of the attention he needed growing up.

Earlier this year, A. E. Hotchner, a writer who has long been a friend of Paul Newman’s as well as business associate since the 1980s, revealed that the actor had long ago shared with him his health problems - about a year and a half ago.

Hotchner said Newman, 82, had “a form of cancer” and that he was “dealing” with it. He specified that the actor had undergone surgery a few years ago, “somewhere in the area of the lung.”

Hotchner co-founded Newman’s Own food products with the actor in 1980 and is also a neighbor to Newman and wife Joanne Woodward, in Westport, Connecticut.

Last year, Paul Newman announced that, at 82, acting was just not the same and that he would retire. He said it was “pretty much a closed book” for him, as ageing meant “you start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention.”

Paul Newman was still set to direct “Of Mice and Men,” a stage play of the John Steinbeck novella. Earlier this year, Newman cited unspecified health issues as he announced he would withdraw from the project.

In recent years, he has starred in “Road to Perdition” opposite Tom Hanks, appeared in the HBO miniseries “Empire Falls” and lent his voice to an animated race car in the Disney/Pixar hit “Cars.”

Paul Newman has also been involved in charity, raising more than $200 million from his Newman's Own brand of dressings, pasta sauces, popcorn and salsa.

"Study your craft and know who you are and what's special about you," Paul Newman once said. "Find out what everyone does on a film set, ask questions and listen. Make sure you live life, which means don't do things where you court celebrity, and give something positive back to our society."
He and his wife, Joanne Woodward, celebrated 50 years of marriage this year. The actor is survived by his wife and three adult daughters.