Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen (
March 24,
1930 â€"
November 7,
1980) was a
American movie
actor. Nicknamed "The King of Cool", he was considered one of the biggest box-office draws of the
1960s and
1970s due to a captivating on-screen persona. McQueen was considered combative and the archetypal "difficult movie star" who disliked working with directors and producers. To compensate, he would work only if paid an extremely large salary for his films; he was one of the highest paid actors of the 1960s and 1970s.
He was born
Terence Steven McQueen in
Beech Grove, Indiana. He never knew his father (who abandoned his wife and child shortly after McQueen was born) - although he did find the house where he lived approximately a year after his father's death.
His mother left him at an early age and he was raised in
Slater, Missouri by his uncle. At the age of 12 he was reunited with his mother and went to live
Los Angeles, California - however by the time he was 14 she had sent him to the
Boy's Republic reformatory school in
Chino Hills, California.
After McQueen left Chino, he drifted before joining the
United States Marine Corps in 1947. In
1952, with financial assistance of 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 auditioned that year, only McQueen and
Martin Landau were accepted. McQueen made his
Broadway debut in
1955 in
A Hatful of Rain.
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
Wanted: Dead or Alive. From
1958 to
1961, McQueen played Josh Randall, a lone
bounty hunter whose weapon of choice was a sawed-off Winchester repeating rifle nicknamed the 'Mare's Leg.' While the character of Randall traveled the
Wild West helping various people he met, it was the
anti-hero image of a bounty-hunter, played with precisely the right amount of mystery, alienation and detachment by McQueen, that made this show stand out from among the large group of typical Westerns on American TV at the time. The character had been introduced the previous year in an episode of
Trackdown, another western TV series, featuring
Robert Culp.
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. The director,
John Sturges, then cast McQueen in his next movie, promising to "give him the camera". Starring with
Yul Brynner,
Robert Vaughn,
Charles Bronson, and
James Coburn in
The Magnificent Seven (
1960), it would be McQueen's first major hit.
Lightning McQueen
Main Article:
Cars (film)Lightnig McQueen is named from Steve McQueen, who first appered in
Cars, the Dinoco 4000 movie. Wesee hints that he dreams of the Piston Cup, that he smokes too much, and that his agent Mack is very jealous.McQueen is a very unhappy car.
The Great Escape
McQueen's next big film was
1963's
The Great Escape (which also starred Bronson and Coburn, as well as second-billed
James Garner). The smash hit movie told the more or less true story of a massive breakout from a World War II Nazi
POW camp and McQueen has by far the most memorable role, whirling through the countryside on a motorcycle before being "crucified" on barbed wire and recaptured. A spectacular motorcycle leap marks McQueen's passage into the screen pantheon; McQueen's friend and fellow cycle enthusiast Bud Ekins, who resembled McQueen from a distance, actually made the jump, but the general public did not know that for years.
Bullitt and later films
Another successful film came in
1968 with
Bullitt, which thrilled audiences 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, he 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. Little known, but true; Steve McQueen became a born-again Christian just shortly before he died in 1980. He was, up until his death, hosting weekly Bible study devotionals in his own home
A & E Biography 2004.
Marriages
McQueen married actress
Neile Adams on
November 2,
1956 (divorced
1972), by whom he 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 (born
December 28,
1960 and now an actor - as is his son, Steven R. McQueen, born
1988).
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.
McQueen is also rumored to have had a son with an English woman; the child bears a fair resemblance to McQueen, but it has never been proven whether or not he is the father.
Motor Racer
McQueen was a 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 amused himself by dressing in a German uniform and chasing himself on another bike).
During his acting career he considered becoming a professional race car driver. In the
1970 race
12 Hours of Sebring,
Peter Revson and McQueen won his (engine size) class and finished second overall 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.
McQueen himself wanted to enter a
Porsche 917 together with
Jackie Stewart in the
1970 Le Mans race but the backers for his film project threatened to pull their support if he drove in the race. Faced with driving for 24 hours in the race, or the entire summer making the film, McQueen opted do do the latter.
He also competed in
off-road motorcycle racing. 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.
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 luxurious and exotic sportscars, including:
*
Porsche 917,
Porsche 908 and
Ferrari 512 race cars from the
Le Mans film.
*
Ferrari Lusso Berlinetta
*
Jaguar D-Type*
Porsche 356 Speedster
*
Range RoverTo his dismay, McQueen was never able to own the legendary
Ford Mustang GT that he drove in
Bullitt. There were two cars used for filming. It is rumored that both models of the car mysteriously disappeared after the film wrapped (similar to the
Easy Rider bikes).
The film's director
Peter Yates recently stated in a radio interview that both vehicles are still extant (BBC Radio 4, 7 January 2006) (see [
1]).
McQueen died at the age of 50, on November 7, 1980, in
Juárez, Mexico of a heart attack following cancer surgery. McQueen had traveled to the Santa Rosa Clinic in Mexico for alternative treatments for
mesothelioma, a rare form of
lung 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 possibly was exposed to the deadly insulating material during his stint in the Marines.
Controversy arose over his Mexican trip, because McQueen was seeking non-traditional treatment using
laetrile, a supposed "natural" anti-cancer drug available in Mexico but not approved by the
Food and Drug Administration in the U.S.; in any event, the cancer was too far advanced for any treatment to have been effective.
In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the
Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
* McQueen's height was approximately 5'9".
* Served in
U.S. Marine Corps 1947â€"1950.
* 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.
* If McQueen had attended the house of actress
Sharon Tate as planned on
August 9,
1969, instead of going on a date, he could have been murdered along with five others by the followers of
Charles Manson. After that close call and hearing that he was on Manson's death list, he began carrying a
gun.
* The real
Great Escape began on
March 24,
1944, Steve McQueen's fourteenth birthday.
* He had a daily two-hour exercise regime, involving
weightlifting and at one point running five
miles, seven days a week. 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 addition, like most actors of his era, he was a smoker.
* He had a reputation for demanding free items 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 items because he was donating them to the
Boy's Republic reformatory school for displaced youth, where McQueen spent time during his youth. McQueen was later said to have made occasional visits to the school to spend time with the students and play pool with them.
*
Chuck Norris taught Steve McQueen's son
karate, and later McQueen convinced Chuck to attend acting classes.
* Turned down
Ocean's Eleven,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
Apocalypse Now and
Dirty Harry.
* Was interested in starring in
First Blood, but could not due to his illness/death.
* Was offered the
Kevin Costner role in
The Bodyguard when it was first proposed in
1976.
* Almost was a co-driver in a
British Leyland rally team
Triumph 2500 PI in the 1970 London-Mexico, but had to turn it down due to movie commitments.
* He is mentioned as Bart Simpson's hero by Homer in
The Simpsons episode "
Saturdays of Thunder". Though Marge corrects Homer by saying "That's
your hero".
* McQueen appeared in a commercial for the
2005 Ford Mustang which used scenes from
Bullitt, and showed McQueen racing the new car around a race track built in a corn field, Ã la baseball field in
Field of Dreams. An earlier (circa
1997) advert, for the
Ford Puma used a similar technique by splicing the Puma (with McQueen driving) into scenes from
Bullitt all to the popular theme tune from that film.
* McQueen also posthumously appeared in another ad for beer in the UK. Scenes from
The Great Escape were used in this commercial.
* He was mentioned in various songs and quotes:
**
Prefab Sprout released an album entitled
Steve McQueen in
1985.
** McQueen was the subject of the
2002 Sheryl Crow song called "Steve McQueen" off the album
C'mon C'mon â€" the video has her riding a motorcyle like in "
The Great Escape", driving a
Ford GT40 at
Willow Springs Raceway to simulate
Le Mans, and being chased by
NASCAR driver
Dale Earnhardt Jr in a
Bullitt Mustang. Including the lyrics "Just like Steve McQueen all I need is a fast machine".
** The
Harpo song "
Moviestar" starts with the lyrics "You feel like Steve McQueen when you're driving in your car".
** The comedy duo of
Richard "Cheech" Marin and
Tommy Chong (aka "
Cheech & Chong") in a skit entitled "The Continuing Adventures of Pedro and Man" (on the album
Cheech and Chong's Greatest Hit), "Man" (Chong) says Pedro (Marin) drives, "Just like Steve McQueen", meaning he is driving well.
** Rock group
Clutch claims "Steve McQueen's got nothing on me" in their song "The House that
Peterbilt."
** Along with
Martin Sheen and
James Dean, he is mentioned in the
R.E.M. song "Electrolite".
** In the song "Gene by Gene" by
Blur, on their album
Think Tank, the narrator claims to "...ride a Bullitt like Steve McQueen," presumably a reference to
Bullitt, in which he starred.
**
Beastie Boys mention McQueen in their song "High Plains Drifter", "I feel like Steve McQueen, a former movie star".
** In the 1996 film
Beautiful Girls, Willie's girlfriend comments about how his father and brother took a liking to her upon their first meeting, which Willie remarks "They haven't felt this strongly about anyone since Steve McQueen died".
** In the
Divine Comedy song "Absent Friends", Neil Hannon sings: "Steve McQueen jumped the first one clean/ But the great escape/ He tried to make/ Was not to be/ Maybe next time, Steve".
** Steve McQueen figures heavily in the
2000 film
The Tao of Steve. The soundtrack includes a song titled "(I Just Wanna Be) Your Steve McQueen".
** In his song "Beautiful Life",
Shy Nobleman sings "Greet the neighbor, Steve McQueen".
** A large section of the film
Heat was closely based on the ending of McQueen's biggest hit,
Bullitt.
** The
Drive-By Truckers have a song called "Steve McQueen" on their 1998 album "Gangstabilly" (re-released in 2005).
** In an episode of
Arrested Development a reference to McQueen is used when Lucille says to Buster, "...and now you think you're Steve McQueen" referencing to Buster's first date.
** The
Supergrass track
Prophet 15, from their
2002 release of
Life on Other Planets, features the line "Che Guevara and Steve McQueen, right there, Oh Yeah".
** On the album
Goats Head Soup by
The Rolling Stones, McQueen is mentioned in the final song, "
Star Star": "Yeah, Ali McGraw got mad at you / For givin' head to Steve McQueen".
** In the
Lupin III episode "I Left My Mind in San Francisco", there is a scene where Jigen, Lupin, and Goemon are chasing Zenigata through San Francisco (in very similar fashion to Bullitt). After narrowly missing hitting a truck in an alleyway by making the car go on 2 wheels, Jigen says, "Sorry, I must have been possessed by the spirit of Steve McQueen".
** In the
Feeder song "Under The Weather" off the 2001 album "Echo Park", McQueen's name is mentioned ("I wish that I was still fifteen, Debbie Harry and Steve McQueen").
**
Lambchop have a song called Steve McQueen on the album "Aw C'mon".
** The
Gomez song "78 Stone Wobble" contains a spoken word sample, which ends with the words "Sean Connery or Steve McQueen" being looped.
* January 17, 2006,
Absolut Vodka released a commercial featuring McQueen from stock footage. The theme of the commercial (set against a techno-rock music riff and showing footage of an astronaut driving a four-wheeled vehicle on the surface of the Moon, saying, "The Absolut Road Trip"), is styled as a montage revolving around the slogan "The Absolut ________". The blanks are filled in with things that are regarded as "supreme" in their respective categories such as
Akira, with the slogan "The Absolut Anime"; the
Statue of Liberty, to which the slogan says, "The Absolut Welcome"; and the entrance to
CBGB's as "The Absolut Rock Club". The commercial ends dramatically showing McQueen stepping out of a car in
Bullitt, the slogan saying "The Absolut Man".
* Legendary
New England DJ/Entertainer Russ McQueen chose his stage name as an homage to Steve McQueen.
* In
House, the pet rat of Dr.
Gregory House (
Hugh Laurie) is named "Steve McQueen".
*The movie
The Tao of Steve starring Donal Logue is about a group of middle-aged men who combine the ideas of famous intellectuals to create a foolproof theory of "dating" - The Tao of Steve. Their idol in the movie is Steve McQueen who represents the essence of cool.
* Frequently cited the "All Guts No Glory" Detective Frank Bullitt as his favorite character he ever played.
* In
Disney and
Pixar's film
Cars', the main character,
Lightning McQueen, is named after Steve and former Pixar animator
Glenn McQueen.
* The song 'Promiscuous' by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland contains the lyrics 'They call me Thomas, last name Crown, recognize game, I'm a lay mine's down.' Thomas Crown was Steve's character in 'The Thomas Crown Affair'
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 RoleThink Twentieth (
1967) (short subject)
Bullitt: Steve McQueen's Commitment to Reality (
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)
*
The Steve McQueen Online Fan Resource*
The First Steve McQueen Site*
The Steve McQueen Film Poster Site*
Elvis Motorbikes ala Steve MeQueen*
BBC Film Profile*
Steve McQueen at
American Movie Classics*
Steve McQueen: The Cooler King (Fan website)
*
Classic Movies (1939â€"1969): Steve McQueen*
Steve McQueen page at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame *
Steve McQueen - The Humanitarian, YoursDaily.com *
Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame Biography at ormhof.com
