Decades before he jumped on Oprah’s couch, Tom Cruise was famous for underwear-dancing around a couch to the sounds of Old Time Rock and Roll in Risky Business. He was the 80s All-American heartthrob with a big grin not yet turned into its present creepiness. He’d made All the Right Moves and was about to become the biggest star in the world in Top Gun.

After Top Gun was released, Tom starred opposite legend Paul Newman in The Color of Money. Newman had faced his own battles with the heartthrob label in his career, and instead chose roles that swam against that stereotype. Newman advised Tom to do the same thing. With Paul as his inspiration, Tom went on to take edgier roles in Rainman and Born on the Fourth of July.

Newman passed away at age 83 on September 26. This week’s People honors Newman on the cover. Subscribers like myself receive the issue with only Newman’s picture; the newsstand copy has a sidebar referring to Scarlett Johansson. Heather Locklear and Jon & Kate Plus 8.

Inside the issue, Tom writes a memorial to his friend and mentor that recalls how down-to-earth and inspirational Newman was.

The first time I met Paul Newman was 25 years ago, when I went in to audition for Harry & Son, a movie he was directing. I remember Joanne Woodward was there and — I will never forget this — she was knitting during the meeting, but she had her eye on every single thing happening in the room. They were a true team. I didn’t get the part, but Newman remembered me, and two years later I had the honor of acting opposite him in The Color of Money. Because he was so respected, so famous, so beloved, he was bigger than life to me … but he always had a way of putting us all at ease. For all his accomplishments, he was incredibly down-to-earth and real. He had a great sense of humor about life and himself.

We stayed friends long after The Color of Money. He called me Cruiser or sometimes Kid….

Toward the end of shooting on The Color of Money, Paul got me into car racing, and I ultimately raced on his team. The last time we raced was a few years back. We were trying out different cars at Willow Springs Raceway in California. Per usual, I thought I had him beat … but suddenly he comes around the corner. His car is next to mine. Then he flips me off and blisters past. You’ve gotta love it. It was pure Newman.

Paul Newman gave me an enormous gift — his friendship. He was a great movie star … a great actor and a great family man. And then on top of it all, he became a great philanthropist. His life will forever inspire me. The world has lost an icon; I have lost an idol.

[From People, print edition, October 13, 2008]

If you look at Tom’s movies before The Color of Money and after, you can see that Newman did influence him to take more challenging roles. I have to wonder what Newman thought of Tom’s recent publicity stunts and mishaps. Newman’s passing and the current state of Tom Cruise’s career are sad reminders that Hollywood’s glory days may be lost forever.

In the October 13 issue of Time, Robert Redford also remembers Paul Newman. Redford says, “What impressed me about Paul was that he was very realistic about who he was. He knew the world of hyperbole and distortion he was in. That meant he maintained a certain amount of privacy. He was generous and a pillar of integrity. He was loyal and self-effacing.”

Could more good advice from the self-effacing and self-aware Newman have revived Tom Cruise’s career? Perhaps Tom is too far gone into his own image to have listened.