Joanne Woodward is being kept ‘comfortable’ in Alzheimer's battle, 15 years after Paul Newman's death
WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT: Joanne Woodward’s family is said to be by her side as the actress’ condition has worsened on her deathbed. The 93-year-old reportedly lives at her family mansion in Westport, Connecticut, as her close ones fear her years of struggle with Alzheimer's will soon end.
A pal told RadarOnline.com that the veteran actress’ family has provided her with at-home hospice care. The ‘From the Terrace’ star’s three daughters – Nell Newman, Melissa Newman, and Claire Olivia Newman — are living with her. It has been said that her late husband Paul Newman’s children from his first wife Jackie Witte also look after her.
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‘It's a tribute to her courage’
The source spilled, “At this point, the best that can be done for Joanne is to keep her comfortable while waiting for the inevitable. It's a tribute to her courage and determination that she has lived with this debilitating disease as long as she has.”
In 2007, Woodward reportedly got diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and a year later, she lost her actor husband to lung cancer. After the actor’s death, most of his money was donated to his Newman's Own Foundation and several different charities. The same has been said about the ‘Three Faces of Eve’ actress’ nearly $50 million estate, which will go to charities supported by her daughters.
‘It will mark the sad end of an era’
The insider noted, “Paul's daughters were blessed with their father's passion for making the world a better place. After Joanne's passing, there will be plenty of money to fund their individual passion projects.”
This comes as earlier, a source had reportedly revealed that “it's unlikely she'll [Woodward] ever be seen in public again.” The source also added, “They never got sucked into the trappings of Hollywood and raised a family with a strong set of ethics. When she passes, it will mark the sad end of an era.”
‘They were interesting, beautiful, and human’
Woodward and Newman’s love story was immortalized by director Ethan Hawke in his docuseries ‘The Last Movie Stars’ released in 2022. The USA Today reported that it was based on the ‘Cool Hand Luke’ star’s torched tapes and transcripts that his family discovered after his death.
Hawke said, “The family said they would give me complete access to what they had. So when I opened this box (with the tapes) I thought I was going to find something awful. Why else would he burn the tapes? There must be some terrible secrets in there. But it ended up being a lot simpler than that. There were many secrets but none of them were terrible. They were interesting, beautiful, and human.”
The director added, “When I started this project, my one fear was that I would discover that they weren't who I thought they were. In the process, I realized that they were much more than I thought they were because it was harder than I thought it was. It's not a fairy-tale journey. They are actually human beings with the same problems as the rest of us. But they managed to fight through them.”