who was the coolest - newman or mcqueen?

fryup

They both starred in the same type of movies in the same era and both were amazingly good looking (and i say that as a hetro male)..but who was the coolest? who had the most on screen charisma?

My vote goes to Newman just for Cool Hand Luke alone my fav all time movie

and yours? and why?

scudzilla

Wow, what a tricky question, think ya should add an option of 'Both the same' as that's where i am, both great actors with an awesome aura about them

padma

it's a damn hard question. Newman is brilliant in cool hand luke, the grin, but also when his Ma passes away and he sings, but, Mc Queen in Bullitt is also fantastic, though from the two i'd go with newman from cool hand luke.

mickdw

Im going to say Newman for no other reason than when he arrived in Ireland in 2004 when he would have been about 79, he spent a while of a day hammering a porsche 911 s around mondello and by all accounts he was still sharp as a tack and right on it.

kingtiger

loved both of them

but its McQueen for me, he is "the cooler king" after all

DazMarz

McQueen. Even his name sounded cooler.

Such a boss, legend and hero.

As someone mentioned already, the Cooler King.

Also shagged Ali McGraw, so that's gotta be worth something... :P

Banjaxed82

fryup wrote: »

My vote goes to Newman

padma wrote: »

i'd go with newman from cool hand luke.

mickdw wrote: »

Im going to say Newman

Tabnabs

I love both of these great actors. But the great die young and Newman now has his face all over salad dressing bottles, therefore he looses!

Hande hoche!

Good point will have to give my vote to Newman due to his tasty barbeque sauce.

Zeek12

Voted for Newman.....more so for the quality of his movies I must admit. Whether or not that's the same thing as "coolness" is debatable I guess, but films like Butch & Sundance, Hud, Cool Hand Luke and The Verdict are among my all-time favourites, so it's gotta be Newman for me.

johndoe99

Paul Newman without a doubt, Cool Hand Luke

Jawgap

McQueen......

Newman was an excellent actor, but wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes on Devil's Island

old hippy

Newman for me. Much as I liked McQueen, there was always this macho "man's man" type thing going on, whereas Newman came across as more complex. What's that film he's in with Liz Taylor? He's repressed and although it was taboo at the time to have character's with "troubled" sexualities - he conveys his anguish well.

Zeek12

old hippy wrote: »

Newman for me. Much as I liked McQueen, there was always this macho "man's man" type thing going on, whereas Newman came across as more complex. What's that film he's in with Liz Taylor? He's repressed and although it was taboo at the time to have character's with "troubled" sexualities - he conveys his anguish well.

Yeah that was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. An excellent film and you're right, it was a really complex performance from Newman

FlashD

Great question & poll.

Both amazing actors of their time for sure, macho both on and off the screen, they were both talented race car drivers. I agree with OldHippy's comments, although it would have been interesting to see how McQueen's career could have evolved had he lived longer.

Anyway, for me McQueen was more memorable as a kid growing up so giving him the cool vote, 'Bullit' & especially 'The Great Escape' have had amazing chase scenes which stuck with me down through the years.

JP Liz V1

Newman for me, he is the better actor also imo

quickbeam

McQueen is probably "cooler" alright. Dying relatively young will help his cool status for sure, and he got to ride motorbikes and fast cars in his films.

However in all other aspects - looks, talent, movie choices, I'd prefer Newman. One of my top actors of all time.

Duckworth_Luas

In The Towering Inferno (one of two movies in which they appeared together I think) the skyscraper burns to the ground due to Newman's incompetence. He was the architect so the bucks stops with him.

As Newman is barbecuing such actors as Richard Chamberlain, Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner, who does Hollywood call upon to clean up the mess?

Clint Eastwood? No
Charlton Heston? No

Why Steve McQueen of course! :cool:

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^^

good point, and mcqueen gives newman a lecture at the end of the movie..

seemingly they both wanted top-billing for the film

To provide dual top billing, the credits were arranged diagonally, with McQueen lower left and Newman upper right. Thus, each appeared to have "first" billing depending on whether the credit was read left-to-right or top-to-bottom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Towering_Inferno#McQueen_and_Newman

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

In The Towering Inferno (one of two movies in which they appeared together I think)

i think the towering inferno is the only one, but i stand corrected

Duckworth_Luas

fryup wrote: »

i think the towering inferno is the only one, but i stand corrected

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)


A very young Steve McQueen had a small part.

D-FENS

Tabnabs wrote: »

I love both of these great actors. But the great die young and Newman now has his face all over salad dressing bottles, therefore he looses!

Newman carried on being brilliant in later life, in films like Nobody’s Fool, Twilight (Not that one) and Road to Perdition, he proved you don't need to die young

And all profits from Newman’s Own go to charity as far as I remember, so I’d regard this as a pretty cool thing to do..

harry Bailey esq

fryup wrote: »

They both starred in the same type of movies in the same era and both were amazingly good looking (and i say that as a hetro male)..but who was the coolest? who had the most on screen charisma?

My vote goes to Newman just for Cool Hand Luke alone my fav all time movie

and yours? and why?

agreed.newman in cool hand Luke trumps any of McQueens roles,and also beats anything else Paul newman himself done

fryup

johndoe99 wrote: »

Paul Newman without a doubt, Cool Hand Luke

did you see it on TV last night??

what a movie, seen it over 10 times now..never tire of it, all time classic

SolitaireX

I went with Newman because of his delicious BBQ sauce! (I think they're both good, the sauce was the tie breaker)

SimonTemplar

You should change the layout of the poll so that Paul Newman appears on the top right and Steve McQueen appears on the bottom left.