Elinor Teresa Newman (born April 8, 1959) is an American former child actress who performed under the name of Nell Potts. She is an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, and a prominent supporter of

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

, who became an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

when she founded an

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

and

pet food Pet food is animal feed intended for consumption by pets. Typically sold in pet stores and supermarkets, it is usually specific to the type of animal, such as dog food or cat food. Most meat used for animals is a byproduct of the human food ind ...

production company,

Newman's Own Newman's Own is an American food company headquartered in Connecticut. Founded in 1982 by actor Paul Newman and author A. E. Hotchner, the company donates all of its after-tax profits to charity through the Newman's Own Foundation, a private no ...

Organics.

Early life

Born in New York City, she is the eldest child of actress

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American actress. A star since the Golden Age of Hollywood, Woodward made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a charact ...

and actor Paul Newman. She has two sisters from that marriage and three half-siblings from her father's first marriage. She is a graduate of

The Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-e ...

Putney, Vermont Putney is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,617 at the 2020 census. The town's historic core makes up the Putney Village Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Histo ...

. She attended the

College of the Atlantic College of the Atlantic (COA) is a private liberal arts college in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine, United States. Founded in 1969, it awards bachelors and masters ( M.Phil.) degrees solely in the field of human ecology, an interdiscipli ...

in Bar Harbor, Maine, from which she graduated in 1987.

Film career

She worked professionally as an actress during the 1960s and 1970s. Under the direction of her father, she played the title character as a child in ''

Rachel, Rachel ''Rachel, Rachel'' is a 1968 American technicolor drama film produced and directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the title role and co-starring Estelle Parsons and James Olson. The screenplay, by Stewart Stern based ...

'' (1968), in which her mother,

, portrayed the adult Rachel. In the next decade she starred in the film ''

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds ''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. Production ...

'' (1972), which featured her mother as a central character and which was directed by her father.

Newman's Own Organics

Following her education in human ecology at the

, she worked for fundraising institutions until 1993, when she founded Newman’s Own Organics using the same ideals she'd learned from her father regarding philanthropy. Newman's Own Organics was a snack and pet food manufacturing company specializing in organic products that became a national brand. Royalties paid by Newman's Own Organics, for use of the Newman name and image, support the charitable activities of Newman's Own Foundation. Her work in

was initially inspired by a childhood awareness that her favorite bird, the Peregrine Falcon, was heading for extinction due to the use of

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

, a pervasive chemical pesticide applied to agricultural crops. DDT works its way through the food chain, from insects to birds and rodents up to top predators such as falcons and hawks. Nell’s passion for birds specifically and nature generally led her to pursue a degree in Ecology, so she could better understand natural systems and how they interact with the human landscape. Additionally, having been raised in rural

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

she grew up eating vegetables from her mother’s garden and made pies out of apples picked from their trees, which contributed greatly to her work in sustainable agriculture and organic food. She has a long friendship with

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

, the owner of the restaurant

Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has develo ...

and has remarked that, "With Alice Waters I had the unquestionable proof that organic food doesn't have to taste like 'health food'. As a matter of fact, organic food tastes better." Following that line of thought, "Great-tasting products that happen to be organic" became the slogan of Newman's Own Organics. Her father died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

on September 26, 2008. He had participated in the business, most importantly by lending his name and image as a boost to the fledgling business that began as a division of Newman's Own, founded in 1982. In 2014, her license with Newman's Own was not renewed and Nell moved on to pursue her ongoing commitment to conservation, organic farming and philanthropy. She and her father were featured together in many of its marketing campaigns, often posed to resemble '' American Gothic'', an iconic painting by Grant Wood.

Personal life

She has been married to Gary Irving since 2005. They reside in California.

Awards

In 2014, Newman received the prestigious

Rachel Carson Award The Rachel Carson Award is awarded each spring by the National Audubon Society's Women in Conservation to recognize "women whose immense talent, expertise, and energy greatly advance conservation and the environmental movement locally and globally" ...

from The National Audubon Society for her environmental leadership. In 2017, Newman was inducted into the Specialty Food Hall of Fame, which “honor(s) individuals whose accomplishments, impact, contributions, innovations, and successes within the specialty food industry deserve praise and recognition.”

References

External links

*
Newman's Own Organics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Nell 1959 births Living people American businesspeople Philanthropists from New York (state) People from Westport, Connecticut American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Slovak descent 21st-century American biologists American environmentalists American film actresses College of the Atlantic alumni Actresses from New York City The Putney School alumni Scientists from New York (state) Newman family (acting) 21st-century American actresses