Background

Newman was born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, near Cleveland, to Theresa Fetzer and Arthur S. Newman, a retail store owner. Newman's father was Jewish, the son of European immigrants Simon Newman and Hannah Cohn,while his mother was Slovak and practiced Christian Science.

Newman served in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific theater. He flew from aircraft carriers as a tailgunner in the Avenger. He had hoped to be accepted for pilot training, but did not qualify because of being color blind.

Prior to entering the US Navy, Newman attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he was initiated into the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. He completed his degree at Kenyon College after the war and later studied acting at Yale University and under Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio in New York City.

Oscar Levant writes that Newman was initially hesitant to leave New York for Hollywood: "Too close to the cake," he reports him saying, "Also no place to study.