Paul Newman
© AFP/Getty Images/File Frederick M. BrownLOS ANGELES (AFP) - "I'm not able to work anymore as an actor at the level that I would want to," Newman told ABC news in an interview released on its website.
"You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me," he said, referring to his screen acting career.
"I'm grateful for the other things that have come into my life," he added.
Newman won the first of his six Oscar nominations for his brooding performance alongside Elizabeth Taylor in the 1959 screen version of the drama "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
His piercing blue eyes saw him through appearances in a string of other classics over a 55-year career, including as a pool-playing shark in "The Hustler," a prisoner in "Cool Hand Luke," and an outlaw in the Western adventure "Butch Cassidy" movie in which he starred alongside Robert Redford.
He won three Academy Awards (Oscars), including one in 1986 for his overall career achievements.
©AFP