I never met Paul Newman but I did once put him on the cover of the Ladies’ Home Journal. I think it was a desperate move when I had no one to put on the cover, a problem that magazine editors frequently face. So I found some picture of Paul and cobbled together a story about him. He may have been a terrific guy but he didn’t do much to move that issue. Certainly not as well as the actor who in those days--the late 80’s ---could really rack up sales on the newsstand. That was, believe it or not now, Tom Selleck. Yes, magazine newsstand buyers of the time ought to be ashamed. Newman did nothing, Selleck sold.
I did meet Newman’s pal, Robert Redford once. In fact, Redford was one of my serious movie star crushes. I had liked Redford in "The Way We Were” with Streisand, liked him in "Out of Africa” with Streep, just plain liked his golden boy good looks whenever I saw them. So I was delighted when his longtime agent, Lois Smith, an old pal, wanted the magazine to interview him. I didn’t assign a writer. Heck, no, I would do it myself. Shoot, the editor ought to get some perks.
I arrived at the interview in his office with a box of chocolate chip cookies the food staff had baked because I heard he like chocolate. Redford looked okay but just okay. He was wearing a short-sleeved tee- shirt and khakis, not a great look for him. . I knew he wasn’t very tall but what I didn’t know was that his arms were quite short, oddly short, it seemed. Like the sleeve of his tee-shirt ended just above his elbow. And his skin? Ruddy, yes, but more than that. Kind of like he had forgotten his sun block for a decade or two. The interview was okay and Redford talked. And talked. And talked. And yet nothing he said seemed particularly quotable. When doing an interview you are always trying to find a few sentences that are worth quoting, that make a point. Redford kept talking. It wasn’t easy.
At the end of the interview, maybe realizing he wasn’t charming me as easily as his agent had told him he would, he suddenly smiled flirtatiously and said, “Why don’t you give me your phone number? I might like to call you if I think of anything else.” I was a bit startled and gave him the number. Maybe he wasn’t that cute but wouldn’t he be cuter in a long sleeved shirt. When I went home I told my husband that Redford just might be calling.
“Oh, really,” my husband said. “Well, if he does, I’ll say there is some actor on the phone. I think it is Paul Newman.”
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