Books Paul Newman recounts getting intimate with Joanne Woodward in 'f--- hut' in posthumous memoir The legendary film actor credited his second wife for helping him tap into his inner sexual creature: "We left a trail of lust all over the place." By Jessica Wang Jessica Wang Jessica is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where she covers TV, movies, and pop culture. Her work has appeared in Bustle, NYLON, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, and more. She lives in California with her dog. EW's editorial guidelines Published on October 13, 2022 03:46PM EDT Paul Newman remains one of the great sex symbols of his time, but the legendary actor credits his wife, Joanne Woodward, for helping him embrace the status. In excerpts from his posthumous memoir, Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man, Newman writes that his wife "gave birth" to the "sexual creature" inside of him. For Newman, who died from lung cancer in 2008 at 83, this sexual awakening came after a lifetime of insecurities. In excerpts from his memoir obtained by PEOPLE, Newman recounts his years as an awkward teen from Shaker Heights, Ohio, who had zero confidence, especially when it came to women. "I felt like a goodman freak," Newman wrote. "Girls thought I was a joke. A happy buffoon." That all changed when he met Woodward, a fellow understudy in the Broadway play Picnic, in 1953. "I went from being not much of a sexual threat to something else entirely," he said. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, circa 1965. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images At the time, Newman was still married to his first wife Jackie Witte, with whom he shared three young children. He had an affair with Woodward and ultimately married her after divorcing Witte in 1958. "We left a trail of lust all over the place," he said of his relationship with Woodward. "Hotels and public parks and Hertz Rent-A-Cars." The late actor recounted returning to his Beverly Hills home with Woodward to find her fixing up the master bedroom with a "thrift shop double bed" and a fresh coat of paint. "'I call it the 'F--- Hut,' she said proudly. It had been done with such affection and delight," Newman recalled. "Even if my kids came over, we'd go into the f--- hut several nights a week and just be intimate and noisy and ribald." The risqué anecdote is also shared in the HBO Max documentary The Last Movie Stars, wherein George Clooney read Newman's transcript that detailed the moment he came home to discover the f--- hut. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. Robin Platzer/Images Press/Getty Images "I came home from work one day and found a large collection of junk piled up in the driveway by the garage," Newman said. "Old bicycle pumps. The outdoor brooms. She was wearing a bandana and a paint-covered smock. I said, 'What are you doing?' She said, 'Painting.' She'd picked up a double bed from a thrift shop somewhere and a new Sealy mattress, and the room was painted some incredibly raucous color. She giggled shyly and said, 'It's called the f--- hut,' and that's where we go." With all the passion, though, came some complications for the two, namely due to Newman's drinking. "Joanne and I still drive each other crazy in different ways," Newman recounted in the memoir. "But all the misdemeanors, the betrayals, the difficulties have kind of evened themselves out over the years." Paul Newman: The Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man is out Oct. 18. Related content: Why Ethan Hawke asked George Clooney to give voice to Paul Newman in The Last Movie Stars doc The Highwaymen director originally hoped to cast Paul Newman and Robert Redford in lead roles Susan Sarandon says Paul Newman once gave her part of his salary