It's hard to believe that Newman only won one oscar and it was for The Color of Money near the end of his career. Plus, with Hud he lost to Sydney Poitier and he definitley had better performance than Lilies of the Field. Paul Newman was amazing in Hud, one of my favorite acting performances of all time.
http://www.squidoo.com/black-and-white-movie-review
I'm with you 100%, he deserved the Oscar for Hud. I actually think he should've beat Steiger in 1968 for CHL and Niven in 1959 for Cat On a Hot Tin Roof. Winning for The Hustler over Schell in 1962 wouldn't have been undeserving either.
shareI'd also have picked Newman over Sidney Portier, but Portier was solid playing a more admirable character, and perhaps liberal sympathies helped Portier as well.
Other oscar-worthy Newman performances where he didn't win:
1959 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - Probably Newman.
1962 The Hustler - Newman should have won.
1968 Cool Hand Luke - Newman was excellent, but Rod Steiger was even better.
1974 The Sting - Jack Lemon, Jack Nicholson, and Newman all excelled.
1983 The Verdict - Ben Kingsley was even better.
Oddly, the Color of Money was probably his least performance in any of these films. Did I miss any?
Newman deserved the win - his best performance and film. Hud wasn't even nominated for Best Picture.
shareAs great as he is, his performance in this film isn't that different compared to his performances in Cat on a Hot Tif Roof and The Hustler.
Having said that, his acting in Hud is stronger than it is in the aforementioned films (not by much, though). So yeah, I think he deserved to win for this as well.
Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!