name. paul leonard newman born. january 26, 1925 birth. shaker heights, ohio, united states died. september 26, 2008 (83) death. westport, connecticut, united states nationality. american ethnicity. ashkenazi jewish (father) and slovak (mother) occupation. actor, film director, producer, race car driver, indy car owner, and entrepreneur years active. 1953 - 2008 known for. the hustler, cool hand luke, and cat on a hot tin roof also. just saying, i love this man with my whole heart