In this case I have to make an exception.

I’ve long since discontinued marking the passing of famous people on the blog. It’s likely a consequence of growing older but, it seems far too frequently news of a childhood idol or celebrity whose work I’ve enjoyed kicking the bucket appears in the headlines. Rather than dwell on people’s deaths, I like to think each day while someone we may have affection for dies, it may also be the day someone who will change the world is born. Better to look forward than to dwell morbidly on the past. People die, it’s part of the equation and it’s what makes time so precious. In this instance though, It’s not surprising. The person in question lived a full life and we all have to go sometime.

With his strong, classically handsome face and piercing blue eyes, Newman was a heartthrob just as likely to play against his looks, becoming a favorite with critics for his convincing portrayals of rebels, tough guys and losers. “I was always a character actor,” he once said. “I just looked like Little Red Riding Hood.”

I can’t say I was a big fan of Paul Newman’s growing up. It was only when I was well into my thirties I discovered (or rather appreciated) the incredible performance of Newman in The Hustler. Prior to that, the biggest impression Newman made on me was in the little seen The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean which I remember mainly as a weekend matinee I was dragged to by my father. Primarily I remember it being different from about any Western I had seen up to that time (and enjoying it quite a bit).

Well, I know this was from back in 2008. That was the year Paul Newman died of course. I became a bigger fan of Paul Newman the older I got, he was one of those stars in Hollywood that aged very well. He didn’t keep trying to do the same thing and he didn’t keep going for young man roles the older he got (Harrison Ford comes to mind as someone whose Hollywood career went off the rails at some point).

Back when Madame X and I were a thing, one of the treats I managed to scrape up for us was to go see Newman in Our Town at the Westport Country Playhouse which is a very small under 500 seat theater in Westport CT. The seats weren’t the greatest but if you’re in such a small space it’s vastly different than being in a large Broadway house.

We sat in the mezzanine in the back but it was an incredibly night. The show wound up on Broadway, it was THAT GOOD!

Original “Saturday Night Live” player Jane Curtin will perform in this summer’s revival of Our Town starring Paul Newman at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, according to director James Naughton.

Since Joanne Woodward took over the artistic directorship of the Westport Country Playhouse in 2000, the summer theatre has had little trouble attracting star talent. And very often those stars are Woodward herself and her husband, Newman.

Both were featured in the sold-out 2000 Westport engagement of Ancestral Voices. At the time, Woodward told the New York Times that the sight of Newman on the Westport stage without a script in his hands (in Gurney's play, the actors read from the text) was an unlikely prospect.

Newman must have reconsidered since then. The famous film actor (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Hustler”) will play the Stage Manager in Our Town. The production will run June 5-22. Naughton, who has frequently directed at Westport since Woodward entered the scene, will pilot the show. No other casting has been announced, though one would expect the combination of Newman and Naughton to attract a stellar array of name actors. Beyond “SNL,” Curtin is known for the sitcom “Kate & Allie” and an occasional stage turn in plays such as Love Letters.

Thinking about it, although I had seen a bunch of Newman’s movies over the course of my lifetime, the one that truly made me a fan of his work was a terrific film a lot of people likely didn’t even see.

The film was shot in Beacon, NY not far from here but someplace I was very familiar with growing up. I remember seeing it and actually tearing up at the end of the movie because it somehow triggered something in me, it was bittersweet but it had such a great cast.

Besides having Melanie Griffith, Dylan Walsh and Bruce Willis it was also Jessica Tandy’s last appearance in film.

If you get a chance, check it out because it’s really one of Newman’s best.