Newman Plans 9th 'Hole-In-Wall' Camp

Fabianna, 14, from France and a first-time camper, rides a horse on June 27, 2006, at the Double H Camp in Lake Luzerne, N.Y. (Jim Mcknight - AP)

LAKE LUZERNE, N.Y. -- Paul Newman's idea in the 1980s to start a camp in Connecticut for critically ill children has grown into an international phenomenon with a ninth "Hole in the Wall" camp opening soon. The camps will host thousands of children, for free, well after the 81-year-old actor speaks his last line before a camera.

"If I leave a legacy, it will be the camps," Newman says.

At the Double H camp, in the woods of the southern Adirondacks, campers climb ropes among tall trees, paint faces, ride horses, swim and play soccer. It's typical summer camp stuff, though campers' diagnoses range from cancer to muscular dystrophy.

Double H (stands for health and happiness) opened in 1993 after the late amusement park developer Charles Wood proposed to Newman that they convert an old dude ranch into a second Hole in the Wall camp.

The camp's success cleared the way for affiliated camps in Florida, California, France and elsewhere, said Newman's Own Foundation board member Bob Forrester. The ninth camp, in Israel, is to open next year and more are in the process of being accredited.

Newman gives the camps some financial support and visits when he can, but they must make their own way. Only about 15 percent of the money that Newman's Own Foundation gives out goes to the camps.

Newman's visits to the camps have become more difficult as the camps multiply and he gets older. At 81, Newman has the same wiry build he had circa "Cool Hand Luke," but he walked with a shuffle during a recent dinner for Double H supporters at Saratoga Springs.

"It's getting harder and harder," he told The Associated Press before the dinner. "I came up a couple of times last year, once this year. We traveled over to Hungary, Italy, next year we'll probably be going over to the opening in Israel."

Despite the call on his time, Newman clearly loves the camps.

"I had no idea they would sprout like mushrooms," he said.