Actor Paul Newman dies

When I was about 9 years old, my parents told me Paul Newman was such a respected actor that he would not cuss in a movie unless he was paid $1,000,000 for each cuss word. According to this story, Newman was so esteemed that he was able to draw that level of pay just for one word.

That story may have been apocryphal. My folks may have devised this myth to discourage me from cussing. (Actually it probably encouraged it: After hearing this story, I probably thought I'd get $1,000,000 each time I cussed.) Or maybe it was designed only to illustrate how respected Newman was.

Paul Newman died at the age of 83 yesterday of lung cancer. But he had numerous acting and producing credits even in this decade.

Newman was also known for his charity work and political activism. He once placed #19 on Richard Nixon's Enemies List. Newman was even rumored to be running for Senate from Connecticut in 2006.

Sometimes I think I was born too late, because for years I've thought it would be neat to be on Nixon's Enemies List. I guess the fact that I was blackballed by the government of Singapore is good enough for me.