Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward 

The couple met and fell in love while Newman made his 1953 Broadway debut in William Inge’s “Picnic,” in which Woodward was an understudy.

Five years later, shortly after Newman and his first wife divorced, he married the petite blond in a Las Vegas civil ceremony. The couple moved into an 18th-century Connecticut farmhouse, a decision that Woodward later said solidified their marriage.

“We were never Hollywood people,” the Oscar-winning actress told the Daily News in 2001. “We just liked it better here. It also probably helps that we always enjoyed each other’s company.”

NEWMAN AND WOODWARD’S ROMANCE

They appeared in several films together, including “The Long Hot Summer,” “Paris Blues” and “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.” Newman directed Woodward in several other movies, including “Rachel, Rachel” - a Best Picture nominee.

When Woodward returned to Sarah Lawrence College to earn her degree at age 60, she graduated with youngest daughter Clea. Newman marked the occasion by delivering the commencement address.

The high-profile couple enjoyed their anonymity in Westport, Conn., where they helped restore and reopen the Westport Country Playhouse.

Woodward, as the theater’s artistic director, cast her husband in the Stage Manager role in a production of “Our Town.” It moved to Broadway, where Newman earned his first Tony nomination in 2003.

“Joanne,” Newman once said, “is one of the last of the great broads.”

Fonte: nydailynews