Celebrating Reg Dunlop
Usually we compile retrospectives of celebrities once they hit a milestone, retire or pass away. I am changing things up in that regard as one of the greatest actors in history and one of the most recognized in the hockey community, Mr. Paul Leonard Newman, is said to be gravely ill from cancer and in the final stages of his life at his Connecticut home. I would like to look back and celebrate the life and career of the man best known as Reg Dunlop in the most popular hockey movie ever made.

He was born January 26 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio to Arthur and Theresa Newman. Arthur owned a highly successful sporting goods store that Paul would return to run in 1950 following his fatherâ€^TMs death. At that time he was married to his first wife Jackie Witte who had recently given birth to his first son Scott. After realizing he didnâ€^TMt want to follow in his fatherâ€^TMs footsteps, he moved his family to New Haven, Connecticut so he could attend Yaleâ€^TMs School of Drama. While performing there, he was spotted by a couple of agents who persuaded him to move to New York and become a professional actor.

In New York he was cast as an understudy in a Broadway play called Picnic which also cast an actress named Joanne Woodward. Paul was still married and his second child Susan had recently been born but there was an immediate attraction and chemistry between the two. In 1957 he was cast in the film A Long, Hot Summer with none other than Joanne Woodward. It was obvious that they were meant to be together so Jackie gave Paul a divorce enabling him to marry Joanne in 1958. They recently celebrated their 50th anniversary together.

He made extraordinary films in the 50s and 60s including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke and Butch Casidy and the Sundance Kid. The 70s were also very kind to him after making The Sting, The Towering Inferno and of course, Slap Shot in 1977. The role of one Reginald Dunlop will go down in history as one of Newmanâ€^TMs best and he has admitted that making it was the most fun he has had on a film set. The character was actually based on John Brophy who coached the Maple Leafs for a few years but was a longtime minor league player and coach. When the Hanson Brothers stopped by the NHL Home Ice studios in 2006, they told us that not only did Paul do all his own stunts and skating, he would ask them for advice on how a professional hockey player would act in certain situations. He asked advice on acting! The role was apparently offered to Al Pacino originally but he declined. Iâ€^TMm glad he did because Serpico on Skates would have been strange. The last role I distinctly remember Paul Newman for was a movie I didnâ€^TMt really care for: Road to Perdition in 2002. He was the head of a gangster organization in the 30s with Tom Hanks as his â€oemuscle” and even though the movie wasnâ€^TMt great, his performance stands out in my mind.

In his career, Paul has been nominated for ten Oscars, winning once for Best Actor in 1987 for The Colour of Money where he reprised his role as Fast Eddie Felson from The Hustler. Whether you remember him best as Fast Eddie or Reg Dunlop, you get the sense that Paul Newman is the real deal. If his time is coming to an end as reported, I would personally like to thank him for becoming an actor and bringing the world characters that will forever remain a part of Pop Culture. Hopefully he realizes what his career has meant to a lot of us.

• http://nhlhomeice.com/wp/?p=562

AOR