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Steve McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor, nicknamed "The King of Cool". He was one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s due to a popular "anti-hero" persona. McQueen was combative with directors and producers; regardless, he was able to command large salaries and was in high demand.
Early lifeHe was born Terence Steven McQueen in Beech Grove (a suburban community bordering Indianapolis), Indiana. His father was a stunt pilot for an aerial circus and abandoned Steve and his mother shortly after McQueen was born. His mother left him at an early age to be raised in Slater, Missouri by his Uncle Claude. At the age of 12, he was unhappily reunited with his mother and a new, abusive step-father and went to live with them in Los Angeles, California. McQueen however retained a special memory of his leavetaking: "The day I left the farm Uncle Claude gave me a personal going-away present; a gold pocket watch, with an inscription inside the case." The inscription read: "To Steve-- who has been a son to me".[1]
After McQueen left Chino, he drifted before joining the United States Marine Corps in 1947 and served until 1950. In 1952, with financial assistance provided by the G.I. Bill, McQueen began studying acting and auditioned to study at Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio in New York. Of the 2000 people who tried out that year, only McQueen and Martin Landau were accepted. McQueen made his Broadway debut in 1955 in A Hatful of Rain. Key appearancesWanted: Dead or AliveAfter various live and filmed television guest appearances in the mid-1950s, McQueen gained both regular employment and his 'break-out' role with the Western series Wanted: Dead or Alive. Filmed at Apacheland Studio from 1958 to 1961, McQueen played Josh Randall, a bounty hunter who had been introduced the previous year in an episode of Trackdown, a TV western featuring Robert Culp. Randall carried a sawed-off Winchester rifle nicknamed the "Mare's Leg", in contrast to the standard six-gun carried by most heroes. This added to the anti-hero image of the character, infused with a combination of mystery, alienation and detachment, which made this show stand out from the typical TV Westerns. The Magnificent SevenImage:Brynner mcqueen.JPG Yul Brynner & Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven McQueen moved into film in the mid-1950s with bit parts in Girl on the Run (1953) and Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). He secured his first lead role in the 1958 horror movie The Blob. He then replaced Sammy Davis, Jr. in the Frank Sinatra vehicle Never So Few in 1959 when Sinatra quarrelled with Davis. Director John Sturges cast McQueen in his next movie, promising to "give him the camera". The Magnificent Seven (1960), with Yul Brynner, Robert Vaughn, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn, became McQueen's first major hit.
The Great EscapeImage:Mcqueen ge.JPG Steve McQueen as Captain Virgil Hilts McQueen's next big film,1963's The Great Escape, told the fictionalized "true story" of a mass escape from a World War II POW camp. A spectacular motorcycle leap in the film's climax highlighted McQueen's role in the film. While a very accomplished motorcyclist, insurance reasons did not allow McQueen to perform the actual jump. His friend and fellow cycle enthusiast Bud Ekins, who resembled McQueen from a distance, actually made the jump. More information about this jump and the movie can be found by watching the special features documentary on The Great Escape DVD. Steve always gave Bud credit for performing the jump. In fact on his television show, when Johnny Carson had congratulated him for doing it, McQueen corrected him, "It wasn't me. That was Bud Ekins". Steve never tried to hide the truth about what he did or didn't do in his films. [1]
Bullitt and later filmsImage:Bullitt mustang.JPG Steve McQueen in Bullitt Another successful film came in 1968 with Bullitt, with an unprecedented (and endlessly imitated) auto chase through San Francisco, with Bud Ekins again doubling for some of the more hazardous work. Prior to that, McQueen earned his only Academy Award nomination for the 1966 film The Sand Pebbles. McQueen also appeared in 1973's Papillon, the 1971 car race drama Le Mans, and in The Getaway in 1972. McQueen was the world's highest paid actor by the time of The Getaway. After The Towering Inferno, co-starring with his long time friend and rival Paul Newman in 1974, McQueen did not return to film until 1978 with An Enemy of the People playing against type as an overweight, heavily bearded character, in this adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play. The film was little seen and has never been released on Video or DVD, but is aired from time to time on PBS. MarriagesMcQueen was married three times. He married actress Neile Adams on November 2, 1956 (divorced 1972), by whom he had a daughter Terry (born June 5, 1959; died at 38 on March 19, 1998 as a result of hemochromatosis, a condition in which the body produces too much iron destroying the liver), and a son, Chad McQueen (born December 28, 1960 and now an actor—as is his grandson, Steven R. McQueen, born 1988). McQueen has 3 other grandchildren; Chase (born in 1995) and Madison (born in 1997) to Chad; and Molly Flattery born 1987 to Terry. On August 31, 1973 he married his Getaway co-star, Ali MacGraw, with whom he had a passionate but tumultuous relationship (she left her husband, film producer Robert Evans for McQueen). They were divorced in 1978. His third wife was model Barbara Minty who he married on January 16, 1980, less than a year before his death. Motor RacerMcQueen was an avid motorcycle and racecar enthusiast. When he had the opportunity to drive in a movie, he often did so himself, performing many of his own stunts. The most memorable were the classic chase in Bullitt and the motorcycle chase scene in The Great Escape. The jump over the fence was actually done by Bud Ekins for insurance purposes. (However, McQueen did have a considerable amount of screen time while riding his motorcycle. According to the commentary track on The Great Escape DVD, it was difficult to find riders as skilled as McQueen and at one point in the film, due to clever editing, McQueen is seen in a German uniform chasing himself on another bike). During his acting career, he considered becoming a professional race car driver. In the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring race, Peter Revson and McQueen (driving with a cast on his left foot from a motorcycle accident two weeks before) won in their (engine size) class and missed winning overall by a scant 23 seconds to Mario Andretti in a Ferrari with a Porsche 908/02. The same car was used as a camera car for Le Mans in the 24 Hours of Le Mans later that year, entered by his production company Solar Productions. However, the film was a box office flop that almost ruined McQueen's career. In addition, McQueen himself admitted that he almost died while filming the movie. Nonetheless, at this time decades later, LeMans is considered to be the most historically realistic and accurate, dramatic representation, of one of the most famous periods in the history of the race, as well as being the greatest auto racing movie of all time. McQueen wanted to enter a Porsche 917 together with Jackie Stewart in the 1970 Le Mans race, but his film backers threatened to pull their support if he drove. Faced with driving for 24 hours in the race, or the entire summer making the film, McQueen opted to do the latter. He also competed in off-road motorcycle racing. His first off-road motorcycle was a Triumph 500cc that he purchased from stunt man Bud Ekins. McQueen raced in many of the top off-road races on the West Coast during the ‘60s and early-1970s, including the Baja 1000, the Mint 400 and the Elsinore Grand Prix. In 1964, he represented the United States in the International Six Days Trial, a form of off-road motorcycling Olympics. He was inducted in the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1971, Solar Productions funded the now-classic motorcycle documentary On Any Sunday, in which McQueen himself is featured, along with racing legends Mert Lawwill and Malcolm Smith. Also in 1971, McQueen was on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine riding a Husqvarna dirt bike. McQueen was interested in collecting classic motorcycles. By the time of his death, his collection included over 100 motorcycles and was valued in the millions of dollars. In a segment filmed for The Ed Sullivan Show, McQueen drove Sullivan around a desert area in a dune buggy at high speed. At the end of the trip, all the breathless Sullivan could say was, "That was a helluva ride!" He owned several exotic sportscars, including:
To his dismay, McQueen was never able to own the legendary Ford Mustang GT that he drove in Bullitt, which featured a highly-modified drivetrain (including a NASCAR-style racing engine), which suited McQueen's driving style. There were two cars used for filming. Director Peter Yates recently stated in a radio interview that both vehicles are still in existence (BBC Radio 4, 7 January 2006) (see [1]), one of which is resting in a barn in Kentucky, the owner refusing to sell at any price. Religious faithMcQueen was born into a non-practicing Catholic family. Later in life, soon after the discovery that he had cancer, McQueen attended a Billy Graham crusade and became a dedicated Christian, and undertook Bible studies. DeathMcQueen died at the age of 50, on November 7, 1980, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico of a heart attack following surgery to remove or reduce a metastatic tumour in his liver. He had been diagnosed with mesothelioma in December 1979, and had travelled to Mexico in July 1980 for unconventional treatment after his doctors advised him that they could do nothing more to prolong his life.[2] Controversy arose over McQueen's Mexican trip, because McQueen sought a very non-traditional treatment that used coffee enemas and laetrile, a supposedly "natural" anti-cancer drug available in Mexico but not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. It is unclear whether the asbestos exposure came from his racing career or from an experience in the United States Marine Corps; he wore an asbestos-insulated racers suit in his race cars and when working on his own cars and motorbikes would use an asbestos soaked rag to cover his mouth from other fumes[citation needed], and McQueen said that he was exposed to the deadly insulating material during his stint in the Marines[citation needed]. In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. Even posthumously, Steve McQueen remains one of the highest paid iconic stars, and his estate carefully manages the licensing activity to avoid the commercial oversaturation common to many deceased celebrities. McQueen's personality and trademark rights are managed by Corbis Corporation, the well-known media company owned by Bill Gates. Personal informationMcQueen's height was approximately 5'9". He had a daily two-hour exercise regime, involving weightlifting and at one point running five miles, seven days a week. He also received personal martial arts training under Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. However, he was also known for his prolific drug use (William Caxton claimed he smoked marijuana almost every day; others said he used a tremendous amount of cocaine in the early 70's). In addition, like most actors of his era, he was a smoker. After Charles Manson incited the murder of five people including McQueen's close personal friends Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring at Tate's home on August 9, 1969, it was reported the McQueen was another potential target of the killers. According to his first wife, he then began carrying a handgun at all times in public, including at Sebring's funeral.[3] McQueen had an unusual reputation for demanding free items in bulk from studios when agreeing to do a film, such as electric razors, jeans and several other products. It was later found out that McQueen requested these things because he was donating them to the Boy's Republic reformatory school for displaced youth, where McQueen spent time during his youth. McQueen made occasional visits to the school to spend time with the students, often to play pool and to speak with them about his experiences. After discovering a mutual interest in racing Jim Garner and McQueen became good friends. Garner lived directly down the hill from McQueen and as McQueen recalled, "I could see that Jim was very neat around his place. Flowers trimmed, no papers in the yard...grass always cut. So, just to piss him off, I'd start lobbing empty beer cans down the hill into his driveway. He'd have his drive all spic 'n' span when he left the house, then get home to find all these empty cans. Took him a long time to figure out it was me".[1] McQueen learned the martial art Tang Soo Do from ninth degree blackbelt Pat E. Johnson, and served as one of the pall bearers at Bruce Lee's funeral in 1973. Chuck Norris taught McQueen's son karate, while Lee trained him in Jeet Kune Do. Later on, McQueen convinced Norris to attend acting classes. His name was not, as sometimes thought, on President Richard Nixon's infamous Enemies List. It was McQueen's Hollywood rival actor Paul Newman who was on the list. Ironically, in real life, McQueen was quite conservative in his political views, and often backed the Republican party. He supported the war in Vietnam, was one of the few Hollywood stars who refused numerous requests to back Presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy in 1968, and turned down the chance to participate in the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. When McQueen heard he had been added to Nixon's Enemies List, he responded by immediately flying a giant American flag outside his house. Reportedly, his wife Ali McGraw responded to the whole affair by saying "But you're the most patriotic person I know." McQueen appeared at a Lyndon Johnson campaign event in 1964. It is unknown whether he voted for the President or not. [2] McQueen commanded such celebrity status in the UK that when visiting Chelsea Football Club to watch a game he was personally introduced to the players in the dressing room during the half-time break. Missed rolesMcQueen was offered the lead role in Breakfast at Tiffany's but was unable to accept due to his Wanted: Dead or Alive contract. The role went to George Peppard. He also turned down Ocean's Eleven, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Driver, Apocalypse Now, and Dirty Harry. He had been interested in starring in First Blood, but could not due to his illness/death. He had also been offered the Kevin Costner role in The Bodyguard when it was first proposed in 1976. He was to play the lead in Quigley Down Under, which was scheduled for production in 1980, but due to his illness, the project was scrapped until a decade later, with Tom Selleck in the starring role. McQueen was also interested in making the film version of Waiting for Godot. During his time away from film he developed an interest in the classic playwrights. This led him to Beckett's Godot, but the playwright had never heard of Steve McQueen. Hobbies
High prices for memorabiliaThe tinted sunglasses worn by McQueen in the 1968 movie The Thomas Crown Affair sold at a Los Angeles auction for $70,200 in 2006. [3] One of his motorcycles, a 1937 Crocker, sold for a world record price of $276,500 at the same auction. Legacy in popular cultureMcQueen has developed a cult following. Numerous films, television shows and songs make reference to his charisma, his enthusiasm for racing and his reputation as the "King of Cool." For example, during the second season of the American medical drama series House, the title character Gregory House names his pet rat Steve McQueen. Another example was the 2002 Sheryl Crow song "Steve McQueen" featuring scenes from The Great Escape, Bullitt, and LeMans that also included appearances of NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. The philosophy of detached cool in the 2000 comedy The Tao of Steve centers on three men - the fictional Steve Austin and Steve McGarrett and McQueen. Filmography
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