"Newman says he's doing nicely."
With that statement from his spokesman, screen icon Paul Newman employed his characteristic laid-back style to brush off reports that he is ailing with cancer.

The 83-year-old star of The Sting and Cool Hand Luke has appeared gaunt in recent photographs. Then on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that A.E. Hotchner, who partnered with Newman to start Newman's Own food company in the 1980s, confirmed that the actor had been fighting cancer.

But Hotchner later told Access Hollywood he didn't know anything for sure.

The actor's spokesman, Jeff Sanderson, deliverer of the "doing nicely" statement, would not elaborate on the remark Wednesday or comment on Hotchner's statements.

Fans posted messages on blogs and in the comments section of news stories, offering prayers and well-wishes for the actor, whatever his health status.

Shawn Levy, who covers film for The (Portland) Oregonian and is working on a Newman biography, says rumors of illness have been circulating since the beginning of the year but are only now gathering mass attention. He notes a previous dismissal of the cancer rumor: Newman's statement joked that he was being treated "for athlete's foot and hair loss."

Seeing photos of an aged Newman can be startling to fans, he points out. "People forget. Even though the number 83 is staring them in the face, they think of Newman as younger than he is. We think of him as a 1960s guy because of Butch Cassidy and Cool Hand Luke, but he was in his 40s when those came out."

But for a man in his 80s, Newman has been very active, Levy says. "We're talking about this guy like he's dying, but last year at 82, he finished fourth place in a car race in Watkins Glen, N.Y."