WESTPORT — A life that was both extraordinary and ordinary … internationally renowned and hometown congenial.

That was the life of Paul Newman, global superstar and award-winning actor, as well as philanthropist, political activist and race car enthusiast.

And here, in his longtime hometown of Westport, he was a family man and neighbor.

Learn more about that very varied life in a new memoir, “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man,” collected from interviews and transcripts that Newman began compiling in the mid-1980s.

Gain insight into the book, officially published Oct. 18, and its making in a program Nov. 20 at the Westport Country Playhouse, featuring one of Newman’s daughters.

Discussing the memoir with Melissa Newman, who wrote the book’s foreword, will be Anne Keefe, the playhouse associate artist, who previously was the theater’s co-artistic director with actress Joanne Woodward, Newman’s wife. The book’s afterword is by another Newman daughter, Clea Newman Soderlund.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20, at the playhouse, 25 Powers Court. A question-and-answer period will follow. It is presented by Barrett Bookstore of Darien.

Tickets cost $45, and include a copy of the book. Click here  to reserve seats.

“The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man” is the result of a project Newman began in 1986 with a friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern (“Rebel Without a Cause,” “Rachel, Rachel”). 

Over five years, Stern compiled an oral history of the actor’s life, talking with the actor and his family, friends and those who worked closely with him. Culled from thousands of transcript pages, additional voices in the book include childhood friends, Navy buddies, and film and theater collaborators, such as his wife, Tom Cruise, George Roy Hill and John Huston.

The book, according to publicity, includes Newman’s accounts of “his traumatic childhood; his teenage  insecurities; his early failures with women; his first marriage; his early rivals [Marlon Brando and James Dean], and his rise to stardom.”

Newman also “reflects on his greatest roles; his philanthropy; the death of his son Scott; his drinking; his innermost fears, passions, and joys;and his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about their father. 

“Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers on his relationship with Joanne Woodward — their love for each other, his dependence on her, and the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and sexually,” according to the publicity release.

Newman also performed at the Westport Country Playhouse when his wife, Joanne Woodward, was artistic director in the early 2000s. 

He appeared in productions of “Love Letters” (2000), “Ancestral Voices” (2000 and 2002), “For the Children” (2001), “Trumbo” (2004), “Come Be My Love” (2007) and a revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” (2002), which transferred to Broadway and filmed for television. He also was a member of the playhouse’s advisory council to the board of trustees.

For more information, contact the Westport Country Playhouse at 203-227-4177.