In short, you may have the headlines and public acclaim now, but eventually it all ends.

I was struck by the phrase after the visit of Paul Newman to Charlotte for the premier of the movie “Cars” in which he has one of the leading roles.

By any measure, Newman is a famous man. He has nine Oscar nominations and has starred in some of the best-known movies ever made. His last Oscar nomination came just four years ago when he was opposite Tom Hanks in “The Road to Perdition”. Newman was 77 at the time. He’s been a movie star, with emphasis on “star”, for more than fifty years.

And yet, in the press conference he held with reporters from all over the country, one (apparently young) reporter asked him what it was like to work with Owen Wilson. Wilson is one of the hot young stars in Hollywood. One reporter who was there said the question was asked in a way that implied some old actor (like Newman) might very well be thrilled to work with Wilson.

Newman has entirely too much class to have turned it around and suggest the reporter ask Wilson what it was like to work with Paul Newman. Wilson is certainly a big name now, but he can act for the next fifty years and he will never be Paul Newman or even come close. Newman politely answered the question, complimented Wilson and moved on.

It’s possible I’m being unfair to the reporter, who certainly (one hopes) knows that Newman has been in a lot of movies and maybe the question came out a bit awkwardly.

But his question to Newman is not the point. The point is that for a generation of young people, Paul Newman may be almost unknown, despite playing some of the most iconic characters in film history. Many in our newsroom admitted they really didn’t know much, if anything, about Paul Newman. A couple of years ago Arthur Miller died and the reaction was the same. Miller only wrote perhaps the greatest play in America history: “Death of a Salesman.”

But all of this is bigger than Paul Newman or Arthur Miller. I suspect you would find the same lack of knowledge in the general public about writers like Hemingway, Steinbeck or Faulkner (all of whom won the Nobel prize for literature), about actors like Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Stewart, TV performers like Johnny Carson, Milton Berle or Carol Burnett, athletes like Bobby Jones, Muhammad Ali or Jackie Robinson, the latter two very significant figures in American history, not just sports history.

You can certainly live without knowing about movies, books, plays or sports, but those names mentioned above have added a great deal to American life and those who don’t know of them and countless others are missing out on something. Greatness should be remembered, no matter the area in which it was accomplished.

Which bring us back to Paul Newman. If he was upset by the question about Owen Wilson, he didn’t show it. But I know how he might have felt: after all, I am asked nearly everyday what it’s like to work with Larry Sprinkle.

MOVIE OF THE WEEK

“Going my Way” 1944

Starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald this movie was nominated for ten Academy awards. It won several, including picture of the year, Crosby as best actor, Fitzgerald as supporting actor and Leo McCarey for best director.

It’s the story of a young priest (Crosby) sent to a failing parish to help out an older priest (Fitzgerald). It speaks to community, tradition and family and is one of the feel good movies of all time. It’s not really a musicial, but the song “Swinging on a Star” won the academy award for best song and the song “Going my Way” is almost as good. It’s one of my favorites and I would hope you’d enjoy it too.

If you do, you would also like “The Bells of St. Mary’s” which was made one year later. Crosby reprised his role as Father O’Malley and Ingrid Bergman starred as a nun. It was nominated for nine academy awards and is nearly as good as “Going my Way.” It’s also an example of the kind of films seldom made anymore, which is a pity.