# How long before majority of people forget that Paul Newman was an actor?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-majority-of-people-forget-that-paul-newman-was-an-actor/732234>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 22, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-majority-of-people-forget-that-paul-newman-was-an-actor/732234 "2015-09-22T20:56:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 11

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-majority-of-people-forget-that-paul-newman-was-an-actor/732234/201 "2015-09-26T23:12:00Z")

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> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> They are not forgotten. They are unknown to some younger people. There is a difference.
> 
> Paul Newman was part of the last generation of true movie stars. He was in quite a lot of famous, well-regarded movies. As long as there is cable tv and/or streaming video, people will be watching those movies. He will not be forgotten any more than Clark Gable or Steve McQueen.
> 
> You younger people have a skewed idea of what you like right now equalling relevant. You’ll grow out of that notion some day.

Pretty much what I was going to say. With hundreds of cable channels and the internet, and digital storage that doesn’t fade over time, any movies now existing that are any good at all will probably still be watched 100 years from now. And Newman made a lot of good movies.

BTW, “Hombre” was on some cable channel last week. Whoever said he was just a pretty boy rather than a bad boy should give it a look.

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**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-majority-of-people-forget-that-paul-newman-was-an-actor/732234/202 "2015-09-28T17:36:01Z")

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It occurs to me that content and demand means something.

The fifties was a time when television as a medium was exploding, and content was in big demand. The Three Stooges were perfect for this, because their shorts could be strung together to fill airtime in different ways. It’s likely the reason we all KNOW the Stooges is exactly because of this; their stuff was in the process of being forgotten until after WWII and the TV boom.

The seventies began the process again, with the explosion of cable networks. I remember seeing some truly inane things being thrown out there because there was all this airtime and nothing with which to fill it. This is the time frame in which certain films because “iconic classics” due to their repeated exposure and apparent cheapness to show… “The Wizard Of Oz,” “Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory,” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” being three potent examples.

Today, though… television as a medium is still potent (or can be), but with the number of channels and the lack of routine on our part, is this still a feasible launcher for classic film?

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