Top 10 Paul Newman Films

1982; directed by Sidney Lumet; screenplay by David Mamet, from the novel by Barry Reed; with Charlotte Rampling, James Mason, Jack Warden.

A character actor trapped in a movie star's charisma, Newman had to inch toward 60 before receiving his due acclaim for roles that were neither heroes nor heels: His Frank Galvin, an alcoholic lawyer, something of a sad joke among those Boston barristers who take notice of him, scrounges up one last case that will expose venalities in the medical establishment and the Catholic Church. For once playing someone viewed with contempt, not envy, Newman did full justice to a wizened creature in a movie whose "winter light," David Thomson wrote, "got through his mask and into a raw soul." It earned Newman the cover of TIME and his sixth Oscar nomination. He lost to Gandhi.

(See photos of Paul Newman's storied career)