The actor Paul Newman called the toughest man on the face of the ...

(Credit: Alamy)

Paul Newman rarely played the tough guy, but he could conjure rough edges when he needed to. In movies like Hud, Cool Hand Luke, and Slap Shot, he played charismatic but troubled characters who tended toward self-sabotage. As one of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the 1960s and ‘70s, Newman had every reason to sing his own praises, but he was known for being uncomfortable with fame and unimpressed with his status and frequently confessed to feeling unworthy of the adoration and accolades that came his way.

Though he had complicated feelings about his own stature, Newman had absolutely no issue whatsoever with showering fellow actors with praise when he felt they deserved it. As it turns out, one of the stars who made the biggest impression on him wasn’t a co-star, and he didn’t put Newman in awe with his acting skills. He was simply so tough in real life that it left the actor speechless. 

During the production of the 1967 movie Hombre, in which Newman played the ill-advised role of a Native American, Sean Connery paid a visit to the set in the Arizona desert. His wife, Diane Cilento, was also in the picture, and they went to dinner with Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward.

As the Butch Cassidy star remembered in his memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, the restaurant they chose was famous for its chilli peppers, which were so strong that the tiniest sliver would “clear out your sinuses for a month”. To his horror, Newman watched helplessly from one end of the table as the James Bond actor grabbed a handful of the peppers and popped them in his mouth. 

“I waited for the top of his head to lift off his neck to or three inches, separate from his ears, and for his chair to fall over backwards while he ran for a swimming pool to submerge the fire,” Newman recalled. “But nothing happened.”

It was at that moment, as Connery continued to chew nonchalantly, that Newman realised he was a man of rare fortitude. “I’ve never been so awed,” he said. “It was spiritual.” He couldn’t remember whether he’d had the chance to share his revelation with Connery, but he said, “I came to regard him as one of the toughest men on the face of the earth.”

It isn’t often that you hear a male star praising the toughness and manliness of another, especially in the 1960s when masculinity involved a certain level of cool self-confidence that prevented a person from admitting their inferiority to anyone. However, Newman’s admiration was in keeping with his tendency toward self-depreciation, and Connery made an impression on him that just couldn’t be passed over.

The 007 star’s tolerance for spicy food is especially impressive considering that his native Scotland isn’t known for its piquant cuisine. It is conceivable that someone growing up near the US/Mexico border could develop a high tolerance for extra hot peppers over the course of a couple of decades, but Connery didn’t have – and apparently didn’t need – any easing in. There is clearly a James Bond plot somewhere in there, but sadly, the screenwriters missed a trick.

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