'Steve McQueen' (
March 24 1930 –
November 7 1980) was an
Academy Award-nominated
American movie
actor, nicknamed "The King of Cool".
[1] 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 life
He was born as 'Terence Steven McQueen' in
Beech Grove, Indiana (a suburban community bordering
Indianapolis). 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".
[2]
However, by the time he was 14 he was running with a street gang, so his mother sent him to the California Junior Boys Republic, optimistically described as "a home for wayward boys" in
Chino Hills, California. 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 appearances
''Wanted: Dead or Alive''
After 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 ''. Filmed at
Apacheland Studio in 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 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 Escape''
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. McQueen always gave Ekins 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". In
1966 McQueen appeared as "Nevada Smith" in the movie of the same name.
[2]
''Bullitt'' and later films
Another successful film was
1968's ''
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. His last films were ''Tom Horn'' and ''The Hunter'', both released in 1980.
Marriages
McQueen was married three times. He married Manila-born 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 whom he married on
January 16 1980, less than a year before his death.
Motor Racer
McQueen 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, today, ''LeMans'' is considered to be the most historically realistic, accurate, and dramatic representation of one of the most famous periods in the history of the race, as well as being considered one of the greatest auto racing movies of all time.
McQueen wanted to enter a
Porsche 917 with
Jackie Stewart in the 1970 Le Mans race, but his film backers threatened to pull their support if he drove. Faced with the choice of driving for 24 hours in the race or spending 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 1978. 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:
★
Porsche 917,
Porsche 908 and
Ferrari 512 race cars from the ''Le Mans'' film.
★ 1963
Ferrari 250 Lusso Berlinetta
★
Jaguar D-Type XKSS
★
Porsche 356 Speedster
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) that 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
[4], one of which is resting in a barn in Kentucky, the owner refusing to sell at any price.
Religious faith
McQueen was born into a non-practicing
Roman Catholic family. Later in life, before the discovery that he had
cancer, McQueen attended a
Billy Graham crusade, became a dedicated Christian, and undertook Bible studies.
Death
McQueen 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.
[5] McQueen was cremated, and his ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean.
Mesothelioma is a form of
cancer usually caused by
asbestos exposure. It is unclear whether the asbestos exposure came from his racing career or from his service in the
United States Marine Corps. Some sources say it was from working on the drum brakes of his
Austin-Healey Sprite and breathing in the asbestos.
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.
Posthumously, McQueen remains one of the most popular 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. In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the
Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Personal information
McQueen's height is disputed - he was officially listed as 5'10" but was known to wear lifts in many movies. Some people, including film critic
Barry Norman, have said McQueen's height was in fact only 5'7". He had a daily two-hour exercise regimen, involving
weightlifting and at one point running five
miles, seven days a week. He also received personal martial arts training. 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 1970s). In addition, like many actors of his era, he was a heavy cigarette 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 that 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.
[6]
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 had 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
James 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".
[7]
McQueen learned the martial art
Tang Soo Do from ninth degree blackbelt Pat E. Johnson, and proceeded to train with Bruce Lee, who reportedly thought highly of McQueen's fighting abilities. McQueen served as one of the pall bearers at
Bruce Lee's funeral in 1973.
Chuck Norris and
Bruce Lee taught McQueen's son Chad
Taekwondo and
Jeet Kune Do (respectively). Later on, McQueen persuaded 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.
[8]
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 roles
McQueen was offered the lead role in ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's'' but was unable to accept due to his '' 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 illness. He had also been offered the titular 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 McQueen.
Hobbies
★ Patented a specific
bucket seat in a racecar.
[9]
★ Was to co-drive in a
Triumph 2500 PI for the
British Leyland team in the 1970 London-Mexico rally, but had to turn it down due to movie commitments.
★ Owned and flew a 1931 Pitcairn PA-8 biplane, once flown as part of the U.S. Mail Service by famed WWI ace, Eddie Rickenbacker. It was hangared at Santa Paula Airport an hour northwest of Hollywood.
High prices for memorabilia
The tinted sunglasses worn by McQueen in the 1968 movie ''
The Thomas Crown Affair'' sold at a Los Angeles auction for $70,200 in 2006.
[1] One of his motorcycles, a 1937 Crocker, sold for a world record price of $276,500 at the same auction. McQueen's 1963 metallic-brown Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso sold for $2.31 million USD at auction on August 16, 2007.
Legacy in popular culture
McQueen 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, the
music video for the 2002
Sheryl Crow song "Steve McQueen" featured 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. This film included a song by Eytan Mirsky entitled "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen," which features references to a number of McQueen's screen roles.
Swiss watch maker
Tag Heuer has been marketing some of its automatic chronograph models as "Steve McQueen Monaco Editions" in tribute to him wearing a similar watch in the film ''
Le Mans''. In
2005, the watch maker's marketing campaign also reissued a special edition Monaco chronograph to celebrate what would have been Steve McQueen's 75th birthday.
Filmography
★ ''
Girl on the Run'' (1953)
★ ''
Somebody Up There Likes Me'' (1956)
★ ''
Never Love a Stranger'' (1958)
★ ''
The Blob'' (1958)
★ ''
The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery'' (1959)
★ ''
Never So Few'' (1959)
★ ''
The Magnificent Seven'' (1960)
★ ''
The Honeymoon Machine'' (1961)
★ ''
Hell Is for Heroes'' (1962)
★ ''
The War Lover'' (1962)
★ ''
The Great Escape'' (1963)
★ ''
Soldier in the Rain'' (1963)
★ ''
Love with the Proper Stranger'' (1963)
★ ''
Baby the Rain Must Fall'' (1965)
★ ''
The Cincinnati Kid'' (1965)
★ ''
Nevada Smith'' (1966)
★ ''
The Sand Pebbles'' (1966) –
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION for Best Actor in a Leading Role
★ ''
Think Twentieth'' (1967) (short subject)
★ '' (1968) (short subject)
★ ''
The Thomas Crown Affair'' (1968)
★ ''
Bullitt'' (1968)
★ ''
The Reivers'' (1969)
★ ''
Le Mans'' (1971)
★ ''
On Any Sunday'' (1971) (documentary)
★ ''
Junior Bonner'' (1972)
★ ''
The Getaway'' (1972)
★ ''
The Life and Legend of Bruce Lee'' (1973) (documentary)
★ ''
Papillon'' (1973)
★ ''
The Towering Inferno'' (1974)
★ ''
Dixie Dynamite'' (1976) (Cameo)
★ ''
Bruce Lee, the Legend'' (1977) (documentary)
★ ''
An Enemy of the People'' (1978) (also executive producer)
★ ''
Tom Horn'' (1980) (also executive producer)
★ ''
The Hunter'' (1980)
References
1. Steve McQueen's Ferrari up for auction by Caroline Valetkevitch, Reuters, April 27, 2007, retrieved April 28, 2007
2. William F. Nolan. ''McQueen''. 1984. Condon & Weed Inc. ISBN 0-312-92526-3.
3. William F. Nolan. ''McQueen''. 1984. Condon & Weed Inc. ISBN 0-312-92526-3.
4. BBC Radio 4, 7 January 2006
5. McQueen's Legacy of Laetrile
6. Dunne, Dominick. ''The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well Known Name Dropper''. 1999. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-609-60388-4.
7. William F. Nolan. ''McQueen'', 1984, Condon & Weed Inc., ISBN 0-312-92526-3.
8. Corbis photo
9. The First Steve McQueen Site - FAQ/Trivia
External links
★
★
BBC film profile
★
Steve McQueen at
American Movie Classics
★
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