Cinematical

This morning I was happy to read a post at the Orlando Sentinel, which said that they spoke to Paul Newman's agent, Toni Howard, and she says the reports that he is terminally ill with lung cancer are "not true."

For a while, official confirmation had seemed inevitable. Paul Newman had pulled out of production of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, which he was slated to direct for Connecticut's Westport Country Playhouse. He looked frail during a Polo for Children benefit with Martha Stewart. And the most brow-raising of them all -- he handed over his ownership of Newman's Own to charity.

So, the rumors started to bubble up -- he was diagnosed at a center in New York, was getting treatment, was terminally ill ... so on and so forth. But then I started finding reports that were much more cryptic, saying that he is"doing nicely." Now, Jam Showbiz!/AP reports that friend and writer A.E. Hotchner (who helped start the salad dressing company) says that he is, indeed battling cancer. "I know that it's a form of cancer," Hotchner told The Associated Press. "It's a form of cancer and he's dealing with it." He went on to say: "He's battling. He's doing all the right stuff. Paul is a fighter. He seems to be going through a good period right now. Everybody is hopeful. That's all we know." Mr. Newman, our thoughts are with you.