Tributes paid to movie star Newman

The blue-eyed star of films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had been suffering from cancer and died aged 83 at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut, on Friday surrounded by family and friends.

Oscar-winning British director Sam Mendes, who worked with Newman on the 2002 film Road to Perdition, said it was "the highlight of my professional life".

Newman was also a motor sport enthusiast and philanthropist who set up summer camps for terminally ill children.

Mendes added: "It seems to me to be one of the great 20th century lives: he was famously generous, with his extraordinary and unstinting work for his charities; he was a passionate advocate for the adrenaline and danger of his beloved racing cars; he was a shining example of how to use global fame for the greater good; and most of all he was one of the great movie actors of this or any other age."

Newman was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, winning the best actor trophy in 1987 for The Colour Of Money. He was given an honorary Oscar in 1986 and won a third in 1994, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, for his charitable work.

In May 2007 he said he was giving up acting because he could no longer perform at his best.

Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson, who interviewed Newman for a documentary, said the star will be remembered as "one of the very finest screen actors of our time".

Newman appeared in some 60 movies and starred with his second wife, Joanne Woodward, in several films including Long Hot Summer and Paris Blues.

Robert Redford, who starred alongside Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, said: "There is a point where feelings go beyond words. I have lost a real friend. My life -- and this country -- is better for his being in it."