In Memoriam: Paul Newman's Best Movies

Paul Newman (1925-2008) was a major star of the New Hollywood era beginning in the 1960s. At once a Hollywood heartthrob and critical darling, he'd become one of the all-time great movie stars, with a career lasting into the 2000s.

In this gallery, we're looking back at Newman's incredible career, from his first film to his last, his Oscar win, and his best roles. Enjoy!

Born in 1925, Paul Newman started out on the stage before breaking through to TV and movies in the mid-1950s. His first credited Hollywood film came in 1954, when he played "Basil" in The Silver Chalice, a largely-forgotten historical epic set in ancient Greece. Newman later spoke against the film, but he still earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for the role.

Newman became a fixture of films in the late 1950s, around which time he began making a name for himself. A few of his breakthrough roles were in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), pictured here with co-star Elizabeth Taylor.

If Newman's late 1950s roles didn't put him on the map, The Hustler certainly did. The 1961 pool film debatably remains his signature role in a career of many classics. He plays "Fast Eddie Felson" in the film, which earned him one of his nine Oscar nominations for acting.

After The Hustler, Newman continued his accomplished decade of work, also starring in 1960s films Hud, Harper, and the classic 1967 prison drama Cool Hand Luke (pictured here).

Newman was also associated with Westerns and 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of his most popular in the genre. He starred as "Butch Cassidy" opposite Robert Redford as "The Sundance Kid" in the well-regarded film. The pair would reconnect on another beloved film a few years later...

The Sting, from 1973, remains a timeless classic of the caper film genre. Paul Newman and Robert Redford co-starred again as talented grifters trying to pull off an unending heist.

For fans of sports films, Paul Newman is known for more than just pool movies. In 1977, he hit the ice as the player-coach "Reggie Dunlop" in Slap Shot. It's usually named the best hockey film of all-time and is a sports genre classic.

But it was a pool movie, 1987's The Color of Money, that finally won Newman his first acting Oscar. He returned to the role of "Fast Eddie Felson" in the film by director Martin Scorsese. He picked up the Best Actor win at 62 years old, following six earlier nominations.

Newman had actually been awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1986, but returned to take Best Actor for The Color of Money the next year. He'd earlier been nominated for roles in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Absence of Malice, and The Verdict, but somehow came up empty each time. He'd earn two later nominations as well. The actor was also a four-time Golden Globe winner and an Emmy winner.