Paul Newman

Ah, well. One of the immortals, truly. Cool Hand Luke was one of the first grown-up movies I remember seeing (what the heck was my mother doing taking me to that, anyway? Same reason I saw Bonnie and Clyde when it came out, I suppose--tied down with the kinder but not wanting to miss out on some great movies). I remember his performances very clearly: I only saw The Hustler once but I remember it vividly; I can still picture him taking down Sally Field in Absence of Malice, one of his lesser films that made a strong impression, and the great performance in less than great movies like The Verdict and The Color of Money. He was just interesting to watch even when he wasn't talking: very good at giving his characters a felt but unknown interior life.