Posted by Martin Scorsese and Ethan Hawk team up to bring The Last Movie Stars to HBO Max. With Scorsese producing and Hawk directing the docu-series about two of Hollywood’s biggest treasures should be a sure-fire hit.
In anticipation of the docu-series centering on these two Hollywood icons, we thought it necessary to reflect on the amazing lives of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. They were brilliant both individually and together and I can’t wait to see how The Last Movie Stars balances that.Â
The Stars as Individuals
Joanne Woodward was a movie, film, and stage star getting her start on the television program Robert Montgomery Presents. The Three Faces of Eve however is the project that launched her into stardom, winning her an Academy Award. Working with marvelous people like Gypsy Rose Lee and cast alongside Marlon Brando and Sean Connery she received two more Academy nominations before winning an Emmy.Â
Paul Newman made his Broadway debut in Picnic in 1953, meeting Woodward on the production. Newman starred alongside Eva Marie Saint and Frank Sinatra in a musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. A show he also starred in, in its Broadway revival earning him a Tony and Emmy nomination in 2003. He earned his own academy award nomination in 1958 for his role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.Â
A Married Couple
The pair reconnected in 1957, after waiting for his first marriage to be officially over the two married in 1958. They were adorably and hopelessly in love for 50 years before Newman passed away from lung cancer in 2008. I have a strong feeling that the docu-series is going to focus more on their work than their love story, which is fine, but the love they had for each other is something that would be beautiful to see on screen. When asked about how they make their marriage work Woodward said, “He’s very good looking and very sexy and all of those things, but all of that goes out the window and what is finally left is, if you can make somebody laugh… And he sure does keep me laughing…some combination of lust and respect and patience. And determination.”Â
HBO Max will have the amazing lives of these two icons available to stream on July 27th and I personally can’t wait to see what aspects of their lives Hawk has decided to highlight.
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