By: Greg Mitchell Some in the newspaper biz may remember Paul Newman for, among other things, his starring role in one of the great "newspaper" films ever, "Absence of Malice." But here I will recall when my path, as a young reporter, crossed with his, if only briefly.
In an age when Hollywood activism is a given -- influential though often lampooned -- it may be hard to imagine a time, not so long ago, when it was still rare and often required significant courage. You had to be there to understand the difference between then and now. One of the real groundbreakers was the late Paul Newman.
As it happens, we both worked for Eugene McCarthy, the antiwar candidate, in 1968 and both of us ended up at the riotous Chicago convention in August 1968.
He was a McCarthy activist and a delegate from Connecticut; I had headed Students for McCarthy on my campus and then, as a reporter for the Niagara Falls Gazette, covered the '68 convention -- before taking to the streets to join the protesters.
Newman, like some others in the entertainment world, had been active in the civil rights movement earlier, but the numbers were not large and even fewer took part in political races -- particularly when it involved actual campaigining. Newman, on the other hand, was a crusader for McCarthy and spoke at dozens of rallies and events -- by one count, at least 15 in Indiana (a key battleground state in the primary season that year) alone. This level of engagement was probably unprecedented.
Some credit him with, earlier, being largely responsible for McCarthy's strong showing in New Hampshire, which drove LBJ out of the race. The rightwing Manchester Union-Leader tweaked all this by running a photo of the actor with McCarthy with a caption, "Who's that guy with Newman?" Newman drew 2,000 at one rally there but said, "I didn't come here to help Gene McCarthy. I need McCarthy's help."
On other occasions he acknowledged that he was only an actor but, on the other hand, declared that that didn't mean he could check his conscience at the door.
Newman was also filmed in political ads for the candidate, and emceed a telethon to raise money for McCarthy. In Indiana, he drew large crowds and told one assembly from the tail gate of a station wagon: "I am not a public speaker. I am not a politician. I'm not here because I'm an actor. I'm here because I've got six kids. I don't want it written on my gravestone, 'He was not part of his times.'" And he paved the way for many others in Hollywood to actively campaign for Robert F. Kennedy months after Newman had gone on the stump for McCarthy.
McCarthy, of course, would lose the nomination in Chicago after the bloody "police riot" in the streets and violence even inside the hall. There's a great photo out there of Newman angrily shouting on the convention floor--with his fellow delegate Arthur Miller nearby.
The next day, I attended a McCarthy gathering where Newman, as I recall, protested the outcome of the race and the violence. Newman later told a Time reporter about "a month of serious drinking" before deciding on whether to support Humphrey that fall.
So Newman was kind of godfather to all the George Clooneys of today. And no one, before or since, ever dared to say he was not "part of his times."
*
For photo of Newman at the '68 convention and video, go to our new blog:
http://www.eandppub.com/2008/09/crossing-paths.html
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here