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Susan Kendall Newman has passed away age 72.
The daughter of American actor and film director Paul Newman died of complications from chronic health conditions on August 2, her family have announced.
The Emmy-nominated producer was best recognised for featuring in the 1978 Beatles tribute film I Wanna Hold Your Hand as Janis Goldman.
Susan played one of the teens trying to wrangle their way into The Beatles’ first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
She also had smaller roles in Slap Shot (1977), where she showed up as a pharmacist in the hockey film that starred her father, and Robert Altman’s A Wedding (1978).
Susan was the daughter of Paul and his first wife Jackie Witte.
Her father, who was also a racing driver, starred in numerous blockbuster films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Paul died aged 83 in 2008.
Susan Kendall Newman has passed away age 72 (pictured in I Wanna Hold Your Hand as Janis Goldman)
The daughter of American actor and film director Paul Newman (pictured in 1983) died of complications from chronic health conditions on August 2, her family have announced
Tributes have been pouring in for Susan online, with one colleague posting: ‘I’m sure a lot of people were stunned this morning to see an obit for Susan Kendall Newman. Susan’s number is in my phone.
‘She was a huge help to me when I reported stories about trouble at the Newman Foundation, which runs Newmans Own, the philanthropic food company.
‘She was so bright and articulate, and knew the inner workings of a troubled but important organization. I’m sending condolences to her family including her sisters, and Woodward, who is 95 and has suffered from Alzheimer’s for more than a decade.’
Another said: ‘No! We’ve lost two stars of Robert Zemeckis’ brilliant Beatles fans comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand less than one year apart. First, Christian Juttner last November, and now Susan Kendall Newman. I don’t want to cry while watching one of my fave movies designed for laughs.’
In 1975, Susan appeared on Broadway in 1975 in We Interrupt This Program directed by Jerry Adler, but the play only lasted seven outings.
Five years later she produced The Shadow Box, which was an ABC Theatre presentation of Michael Cristofer’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
The adaptation was directed by her father Paul and starred her stepmother, Oscar winner Joanne Woodward.
She later produced a family-friendly audiobook series of classical literature for Simon & Schuster, earning her a Grammy nomination.
Paul and Jackie married in Cleveland on December 27 1949 and welcomed three children together. Scott, born 1950, Stephanie, born 1954 and Susan.
They divorced on January 28, 1958, after nine years of marriage.