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Credit: Far Out \/ YouTube Still<\/p>\n
Thu 30 July 2026 21:45, UK <\/p>\n
By the time he finally won his long-awaited Academy Award, Paul Newman<\/a> was under the impression that the opportunity had passed him by, especially when he\u2019d been given an honorary prize the year before.<\/p>\n In most cases, when the Academy rewards someone for their lifetime of achievement in front of the camera, it means that their goose is cooked for claiming the real thing for a performance. Newman made a mockery of the notion, right enough, but he could have done it a decade earlier.<\/p>\n It was a running joke at home, which the legendary star may not have found all that funny<\/a>, that his wife, Joanne Woodward, was an Oscar-winning actor, taking home the prize on her very first nomination for 1957\u2019s The Three Faces of Eve. Meanwhile, her husband had gone home empty-handed seven times before Martin Scorsese\u2019s The Color of Money finally landed him the big one.<\/p>\n However, things could have been very different. Not only was Newman effectively begged to get involved in a 1976 classic, to the extent that he was offered literally any part of his choosing, but the role he was being coveted for the most didn\u2019t just win an Oscar; what sealed the deal was one of the most iconic scenes<\/a> of the entire \u2018New Hollywood\u2019 era, if not all time.<\/p>\n Peter Finch made history of the wrong kind when his titanic turn as Howard Beale in Sidney Lumet\u2019s Network saw him become the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar, with his victory announced onstage at the 49th edition in March 1977, two months after his death at the age of 60.<\/p>\n During his signature scene, his cry of, \u201cI\u2019m as mad as hell, and I\u2019m not going to take this anymore!\u201d became Network\u2018s defining moment and one of the most seminal soundbites in modern cinema. Had screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who also won an Oscar for his script, gotten his way, though, it would have been Newman losing his cool in that unforgettable moment.<\/p>\n \u201cAll other factors remaining constant, Sidney Lumet will probably direct this picture,\u201d Chayefsky wrote Newman in May 1975. \u201cAs far as Sidney is concerned, you can have any part in this picture you want. From the selfish interest of the production, however, I\u2019d like you to consider the part of Howard Beale.\u201d<\/p>\n Further reading: Cutting Room Floor<\/p>\n Attempting to appeal to both Newman\u2019s ego and his love of challenging himself onscreen<\/a>, the scribe described it as \u201cthe most difficult part to cast; you and a very small handful of other actors are the only ones I can think of with the range for this part.\u201d Unfortunately for him, the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid favourite turned it down.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t fault Chayefsky for going all-in, since he also said he \u201cwould consider it a privilege to have you star in anything I write,\u201d but the charm offensive didn\u2019t work, and it\u2019s enough to leave you wondering about how Newman felt watching Finch win an Oscar for a role he\u2019d rejected, especially when his sole release of 1976 was Robert Altman\u2019s flop western<\/a>, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull\u2019s History Lesson.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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