Paul Newman was placed on a pedestal and lauded for his fidelity and happy family life. In reality, though, he was the same as other human beings, with his share of imperfections and complexities—in addition to movie star looks and piercing blue eyes. One of the most complex parts of Paul’s life was his role as a father and his relationship with his children, especially Scott Newman. After Paul’s only son died from a drug and alcohol overdose, per Fox News, the actor was never quite the same.
According to The New Yorker, Paul didn’t want to be a dad; he became one because he thought it was the next step after marriage. “I would not want to have been one of my children,” Paul told a former teacher. He’d never really bonded with any of his six kids, which haunted him after Scott’s untimely death.
Read Related Also: Feds tell San Francisco employees to work from home to avoid crime
Paul shared in his memoir, “Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man” (via People), that he’d suspected Scott had always felt pressured to live up to his success and believed his son’s drinking and drug use was just a temporary issue that he’d eventually grow out of. “I kept thinking he was going through a phase of adolescent bad judgment. I never thought it would be fatal,” Paul wrote. “Was there some way I might have told him he didn’t have to be like me? That he didn’t have to do macho things and could just be himself?”
