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Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were once Hollywood’s “golden couple”, and their marriage lasted more than 50 years. Their love for each other was obvious in every photo taken of the couple and every film they starred in together. But the relationship began in a way that Newman said made him feel “guilty as hell.”

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward share a dance as Woodward holds her Best Actress Oscar statuette, during the Academy Awards party at the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California, March 26, 1958
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward | Darlene Hammond/Getty Images

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward met in the summer of 1953

Newman and Woodward were both young 20-something actors working on Broadway in New York City when they first met in 1953. They happened to share the same agent, and they met in his air-conditioned office one day when they were both looking to escape the summer heat.

In an interview with The Today Show, Woodward recalled seeing her future husband for the very first time and remembered thinking he was “just a pretty face.” On the other hand — as he later explained in Shawn Levy’s biography Paul Newman: A Life — Newman was absolutely smitten with Woodward. But at the time he was married to his first wife, Jackie Witte, and they shared three children.

As for Woodward, she was rumored to be in a relationship with writer Gore Vidal. Years later, it was revealed that Woodward pretended to be Vidal’s partner to hide his sexuality.

Paul Newman had to get a divorce before he could marry Joanne Woodward

Later that year, Newman and Woodward co-starred in the play Picnic, with Newman in a supporting role and Woodward as an understudy. They formed a close, platonic relationship on set. And the play ended up being so successful, they both headed west to Hollywood to start their respective film careers.

Four years after they first met, Newman and Woodward crossed paths again in 1957 when they co-starred in the film Long, Hot Summer. Per Country Living, the two friends slowly fell in love with each other on set despite Newman still being married. Just after filming wrapped, Newman divorced Witte.

The Cool Hand Luke star said in his biography years later that divorcing his first wife to be with Woodward made him feel “guilty as hell.” And it was something he would “carry” with him for the rest of his life.

Despite the guilt, Newman and Woodward became husband and wife when they got married in Las Vegas in January 1958 — just a few months after his divorce.

They were together until he died in 2008

After their nuptials, Newman and Woodward settled down in a Connecticut farmhouse, and welcomed three daughters during their decades-long marriage. They both continued working, and even starred in two more films together — Paris Blues (1961) and Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990).

Their relationship did have its turbulent times, but ultimately the couple was deeply in love with one another. They remained married until Newman’s death in 2008 at the age of 83. They even kept their marriage spicy until the very end, according to actor Ansel Elgort.

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“I had a driver once, and I asked him, ‘Who was your favorite person you ever drove?'” Elgort told Town and Country. “He said, ‘The nicest guy was Paul Newman. He asked me about myself, but also he had his wife in the back seat, and this guy was like 80 and he was making out with his wife. They were just PDA and they were giggling and his arm was around her and he’s kissing her.'”

Joanne Woodward is still alive and is 92 years old. Since Newman’s death, she has stayed out of the spotlight while her daughters fiercely guard her privacy.

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