By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Paul Newman. Joanne Woodward.

Acting legends, with award-winning careers spanning decades on film, stage and television. Both won Academy, Emmy and Golden Globe awards.

Newman, who died in 2008, was also an auto racing enthusiast, political activist and philanthropist.

Woodward, 92, was also a director of stage productions and shared her husband’s political and philanthropic passions.

They were also longtime Westport residents. Neighbors. Friends. Involved in many strands of the town’s fabric of life.

Together, Newman and Woodward are now, “The Last Movie Stars.”

That’s the title of a six-part documentary that debuted Thursday, July 21, on the HBO Max streaming service. Click here to watch a trailer for the series.

The documentary — directed by actor Ethan Hawke and executive produced by Martin Scorsese — is based on transcripts of recordings made by Newman, which he apparently planned to use for a memoir, Hawke says in the trailer.

When Hawke was approached by Claire, one of the couple’s children, to make the documentary, the tapes no longer were available because Newman “poured gasoline on them and lit them on fire,” he says.

But, Hawke adds, transcriptions of more than 100 conversational interviews conducted by Newman had not been destroyed. These form the basis for the documentary, which Hawke describes as “a kind of a play with voices, a community looking back.”

George Clooney voices Newman, and Laura Linney is Woodward.

The programs are filled with iconic movie and photo imagery of the couple, as well as scenes of candid moments and clips from home movies.

Here’s a clip from Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” where Hawke talks about making the documentary and why he calls the Newman and Woodward, “The Last Movie Stars.”

Westport, get ready for your closeups.

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.