She Likes to Watch

Actor, philanthropist, anti-hero: Paul Newman always made me grin

As fate would have it, I was attending a screen-writing workshop when I discovered Paul Newman had died.

Newman, the screen legend, race car enthusiast and philanthropist behind such classics as “The Sting” and”The Hustler,” died of cancer Friday at his home in Westport Connecticut . He was 83.

I heard the news from a Hollywood screenwriter as a collective sigh seeped from the assemblage of movie buffs. At first I thought about Newman’s career, his astounding catalog of Oscar-nominated work. Then I mused on his many contributions to charity and progressive political causes. (Yes, I am a fan of Newman’s Own salad dressing.)

It wasn’t until a couple hours later, watching “Cool Hand Luke,” that I realized what I’ll miss most about Newman.

Toward the end of the film, George Kennedy muses about “that Luke smile” as clips showcasing Newman’s tanned, chiseled features and broad grin parade past the screen. And it really is all about the smile.

Whether he was playing a pool hall hustler or a Wild West bandit, a rebellious youth or a rough-and-ready hockey coach, Newman always came across as the nicest anti-hero in show business — a great actor and likeable scoundrel with a certain streak of devil-may-care.

It was a truism that stretched from his earliest movies (”Somebody Up There Likes Me”, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”) to the sunny days of “The Sting” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” to his later work in “Nobody’s Fool” and “The Road to Perdition.”

Let Robert Redford be serious. Let Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood act tough.

On the screen, even at his most villainous, Newman was a joker. Sadness was there — a recognition of life’s fleeting nature and passing pleasures — but laughter was always waiting in the wings.

In fact, you could watch a Paul Newman laugh as it happened. It’d start with a twinkle in those piercing blue eyes, a wry curl of his crisp lips. Those lips would open to reveal an army of perfectly square white teeth. You’d watch the laugh travel south down his torso, where it’d finally erupt, a true Newman belly laugh.

That’s what I think of as I watch the closing credits of “Cool Hand Luke” — Paul Newman’s one-of-a-kind smile.

Central Coast history buffs, rejoice!

Tonight, the PBS show “History Detectives” airs a segment filmed in Grover Beach in March.

As first reported in The Tribune, a crew from the show “History Detectives” came here March 14 to investigate an aluminum Airstream trailer that has been at a Le Sage Riviera Mobile Home Park property since 1968.

Owners Doug and Suzy Carr called the show to try to determine whether their trailer was one of 41 that Airstream Inc. founder Wally Byam led on a 221-day, 14,307-mile trek from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt, in 1959.

“A neighbor told us one day that our Airstream might be famous,” Suzy Carr told the Tribune in March. “So we started researching it ourselves. But that only took us so far.”

“History Detective producers say they were able determine whether the local trailer was part of the caravan. They’re not spilling the beans, however, until the show airs.

Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. for an all-new episode of “History Detectives” on KCET, Channel 8.

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Speaking of history, I just finished watching HBO’s “John Adams.”

Starting Paul Giamatti as the title Founding Father, this well-crafted miniseries sheds new light on the genius and integrity of our nation’s first statesmen — while highlighting the countless hardships of life in colonial America.

It also serves to vindicate the memory of Adams, a dedicated public servant who served as a Massachusetts congressman, ambassador to France, the Netherlands and Great Britain, vice president and president.

It’s a pity that America’s second Commander-in-Chief never gained the popularity of contemporaries Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. If this miniseries — which was co-written by historian and Adams biographer David McCullough — is any indication, he was their equal in wit and tenacity.

That said, “John Adams” does not shy away from its subjects’ human side.

Adams frequently comes across as stubborn and bad-tempered.

He spends years away from his wife and children, letting his long-suffering wife, Abigail, cope with sickness and poverty on her own. And he regularly feuds with colleagues and friends.

At the same time, his deep love and respect comes through in his relationships with Abigail (played capably by Laura Linney) and fellow statesman Thomas Jefferson (British actor Stephen Dillane).

“John Adams” is at once a moving portrait of a man and his friends, and a believable, painstakingly accurate depiction of one of our nation’s most turbulent eras.

Catch the show that’s been nominated for five Emmy Awards. It’s available on video right now.

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Tribune photo by David Middlecamp.

Sorry, “Easy Rider” fans.

Peter Fonda has canceled his appearance at the Avila Beach Music Festival on Tuesday, June 10.

No specific reason was given for Fonda’s absence. He was slated to act as master of ceremonies for the concert, which features rock supergroup Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Peter Fonda last visited the Central Coast in March when he was honored at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

Fonda, star of “Easy Rider” and “Ulee’s Gold,” received the King Vidor Career Achievement Award, named after the prolific director of “War and Peace” (and former SLO County resident). It honors excellence in filmmaking.

Is your kid the next Steven Spielberg? Soderbergh? Sayles?

Young filmmakers have a chance to learn the craft this summer with a two-week workshop organized by the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

Organizers will offer classes from July 14 to 24, thanks to a grant from the San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation.

“Young people are so inventive and have a different take on the world than adults do, so we are hoping to give them the skills they need to go out and make their own films,” said Wendy Eidson, the film festival’s executive director. “We are trying to encourage collaboration so that they learn how a ‘real’ film is made.”

Each workshop will be limited to ten young people. They’ll learn the basics of filmmaking by writing, producing, directing, editing and acting in their own short films, Eidson said.
The results will be screened for family and friends on the final day of the workshop. Audiences can also catch the short films at next year’s San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.

Two local filmmakers will lead the classes.

Aaron Metchik, a UCLA film school graduate, directed his first professional feature-length film this summer.

Alan Fraser teaches video production and photography at Arroyo Grande High School, and film courses at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria. His feature film “Next Time” won best picture awards at the Hollywood and Long Beach Film Festivals.

Each session costs $200, with a limited number of half-tuition scholarships available.

Kids entering grades 3 to 6 will attend class from 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Thursday.

Those entering grades 7 to 9 have class from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday. And future 10th, 11th and 12th graders will attend workshops at 6 to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

For more information or to register, visit www.slofilmfest.org or call Wendy Eidson at (805) 546-3456.

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Wendy’s daughter, Hanna Eidson, is pictured above with the camcorder.

“Easy Rider” star Peter Fonda must dig “the SLO life.”

The Oscar-nominated actor will act as master of ceremonies this summer at the Avila Beach Music Festival, organizers announced Wednesday.

Classic rockers Crosby, Stills and Nash will perform at the June 10 concert, which benefits local non-profit OPTIONS. The group works with people with disabilities.

It’s Fonda’s second visit to the Central Coast this year.

In March, Fonda, 68, appeared at the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival to accept the King Vidor Career Achievement Award. (Named after former county resident King Vidor, the prolific director of “War and Peace,” it honors excellence in filmmaking.)

Part of the famed acting family that includes father Henry, daughter Bridget, and sister Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda’s recent films include “Ghost Rider,” “Wild Hogs,” and “3:10 to Yuma.”

David Crosby presented the award to Fonda and shared stories about his Hollywood pal. He spent most of the presentation raving about 1969’s “Easy Rider.”

“This film changed everything,” Crosby said. “Every young person in America saw this film, without exception, and it changed all of us. I know it (changed) myself.”

In fact, Crosby said, he and his band mates in Crosby, Stills and Nash passed up a chance to do the soundtrack to “Easy Rider” — opting to work on their first, self-titled album instead.

“Peter is quite a man who has had quite an impact on the film industry,” Crosby said.

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Crosby, Stills and Nash perform June 10 at the Avila Beach Golf Resort, 6464 Anna Bay Rd. in Avila Beach. Gates open at 5 p.m., with the concert starting at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $65 to $95, available via Vallitix.

For more information, call (805) 772-6066, ext. 101, or visit www.avilabeachmusicfestival.org.

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The above photo is by Tribune photographer Jayson Mellom. Pictured are rock musician David Crosby (left) and actor Peter Fonda.