As you may have heard recently, legendary actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman, passed away at the end of September at the ripe age of 83.

Mr. Newman was a true renaissance man; a hero and a role model to multiple generations of guys everywhere, including yours truly. His style and swagger in films like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke and Winning were up-front and unmatched — even in the time of Brando, Dean, Redford and McQueen. But for all Newman was on-screen, his contributions off-screen are the ones I remember the most.

I was a teenager when I saw Butch Cassidy. My Dad, a quiet accountant who doesn’t say much, had talked at length about how it was a favorite movie of his. When I saw it, I remembered shopping with my Mom as a kid and seeing that same, smiling face staring at me from a bottle of pasta sauce. That’s the memory of Newman I remember growing up; the guy with the happy face pushing organic (before organic was a branding tool) food products.

Newman was the quintessential guy’s guy. He was in the Navy. He was an Academy Award-winning actor. As a racer he is on record as being the oldest person to participate in a sactioned race (in Daytona at 70-years-old). He flexed his entrepreneurial muscle as the owner of the Newman/Haas racing team. And he set the actor-philanthropy bar by founding Newman’s Own organic food products, by which I became aware of him. To date, the proceeds from the non-profit Newman’s Own line has raised over $250 million for various charities.

The New York Times and Dave Letterman (via) both have touching remembrances of Paul Newman that I encourage you to look at.

Being a 28-year-old male, I can tell you there are few role models left for guys my age. He will be missed by many and I’m included in that group.