Newman was many things but of course he is best known as an Oscar-winning actor, starring in blockbusters such as Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, The Sting, The Color of Money and The Towering Inferno. However, he was also a director, and producer – of the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, no less. In 1982, he founded his food company, Newman’s Own, which has collected over 430 million dollars for charity to date.

The star supported several Democratic presidential campaigns and was a dedicated civil rights campaigner. When his son Scott died of an overdose, Newman started a foundation to help combat drug and alcohol addiction.

Despite his busy career in film, he found time to pursue his love of racing, sparked by the filming of Winning in 1969. The pinnacle of his sporting career came ten years later, when Newman came second overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 935 alongside Rolf Stommelen and team principal Dick Barbour.
He also raced the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1977, in a Porsche 911 as well as the 24 Hours of Daytona, where he came fifth in 1977 and third in 1995.

The blue-eyed heartthrob owned several racing teams, first in CanAm, then in ChampCar with Carl Haas and later in the IndyCar Series with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais won four consecutive ChampCar titles between 2004 and 2007 with the team founded by Newman. Le Mans-born Bourdais even shared a car with his 80-year-old boss. They raced the 24 Hours of Daytona together in 2005.

The Paul Newman stamp is non-value indicated and available on the USPS website at the current first-class postage rate of 49 cents.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO – Translated from French by Emma Paulay