Whether Paul Newman was playing the villain or the hero, Americans were smitten with his rugged good looks, his wry wit, and those blue, blue eyes. By Nate Cutler/Globe Photos. Earlier, the tabloids had been filled with rumors that Newman was dying from cancer, that he had had an operation on one of his lungs, that he was an outpatient at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City. Newman has always been a scrupulously private man (with a renowned sense of humor).
