January 26

Actor, director, businessman and humanitarian Paul Newman was born on January 26, 1925, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. After serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, he graduated from Kenyon College, began acting with summer stock companies, attended the Yale School of Drama, studied at the Actors Studio in New York, then worked on Broadway and in television. His first movie was the box office bomb “The Silver Chalice” (1954). But his luck soon changed when he starred in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” (1958), then many more films, including “Exodus” (1960), “The Hustler” (1961), “Harper” (1966), “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969), “The Sting” (1973) and “Slap Shot” (1977). His support for Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and opposition to the Vietnam War won him the No. 19 slot on Richard Nixon's enemies list – which he said was his greatest accomplishment. Pictured: the iconic “Cool Hand Luke” (1967).