The Who2 Blog

Paul Newman Says He’s ‘Doing Nicely’

The Los Angeles Times follows up (while not quite shooting down) rumors that Paul Newman is fading fast due to lung cancer.

The Times quotes a Newman spokesman (courtesy of People), thusly: “He says he’s doing nicely, and this is the statement I wanted to share with you, and that’s what I have. I spoke to his office [in Connecticut]. This is the statement that came directly from him.”

Also included is a link to the blog of Shawn Levy, who’s working on a Newman biography and who hints rather strongly that Newman might not make his next birthday. Levy’s line: “I suspect I’ll be writing an obituary before I hold a copy of my book in my hand.” Yikes!

Levy’s a film reviewer for The Oregonian as well as a biographer. He says the Newman bio is “my fifth book, and it’s the first that is about someone I can admire unqualifiedly.” His previous subjects include Jerry Lewis and the Rat Pack.

[Now-it’s-getting-complicated update: A.E. Hotchner, Newman’s longtime chum, now says the Associated Press misquoted him and that he knows nothing about Neman being sick. The AP had quoted Hotchner as confirming that Newman had cancer.]

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