THE SYNDROME

Paul Newman, who combined Method training with matinee idol looks to become the personification of the cool '60s rebel in such iconic roles as the reckless Hud, the defiant Cool Hand Luke and the hotshot Butch Cassidy, died Friday. Surrounded by friends and family, including his wife, Joanne Woodward, the actor and philanthropist passed away at his farmhouse home near Wesport, Conn., after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.

In a film career that spanned nearly six decades, Newman received seven Oscar nominations before he was finally presented with an Honorary Oscar in 1986 "in recognition of his many and memorable and compelling screen performances and for his personal integrity and dedication to his craft."

But then he pulled out a trump card of his own, winning the best actor Academy Award the following year for "The Color of Money," in which he reprised the role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felsen, the character he first played 25 years earlier in "The Hustler." Hardly slowing down as he aged into an ornery character actor, he went on to earn two more nominations -- for "Nobody's Fool" in 1995 and "Road to Perdition" in 2003.

Yet, at times, he almost seemed embarrassed by his success as an actor, as if play-acting wasn't entirely a manly profession. He is reported to have once said, "To be an actor you have to be a child." And so after starring in 1969's "Winning," he found a new passion in fast cars, which drove him to adopt the life of a professional racer. Because of that interest, director John Lasseter sought him out to provide the voice of Doc Hudson, the town elder in Radiators Springs, in the animated "Cars," Newman's last feature film.