He was the ultra-cool male film star of the 1960s, and rose from a troubled youth spent in reform schools, to being the world's most popular actor. Over 25 years after his untimely death from mesothelioma in 1980, McQueen is still considered so hip and cool, and he endures as an icon of popular culture.

His first lead role was in the low budget sci-fi film The Blob, quickly followed by roles in The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery and Never So Few.

The young McQueen appeared as "Vin", alongside Yul Brynner, in the star-laden The Magnificent Seven and effectively hijacked the lead from the bigger star by ensuring he was nearly always doing something in every shot he was included with Bryner, such as adjusting his hat or gun belt. He next scored with audiences with two interesting performances, firstly the WW2 drama Hell Is for Heroes and secondly in The War Lover. Riding a wave of popularity, McQueen delivered another crowd pleaser as "Hilts, the Cooler King" in the knock out WW2 POW film The Great Escape, featuring his famous leap over the barbed wire on a motorbike whilst being pursued by Nazi troops. The stunt was actually performed by stunt rider Bud Ekins.

McQueen next appeared in several films of mixed quality including: Soldier in the Rain; Love with the Proper Stranger and Baby the Rain Must Fall. However, they failed to really grab audience attention, but his role as "Eric Stoner" in The Cincinnati Kid, alongside screen legend Edward G. Robinson and Karl Malden, had movie fans filling theaters again to see the ice-cool McQueen they loved. He was back in another western, Nevada Smith, again with Karl Malden, and then Steve gave what many consider to be his finest dramatic performance as US sailor "Jake Holman" in the superb The Sand Pebbles. McQueen was genuine hot property and next appeared with Faye Dunaway in the provocative crime drama The Thomas Crown Affair and then as a maverick, taciturn detective in the mega hit Bullitt, renowned for its famous chase sequence through San Francisco between McQueen's Ford Mustang and the killer's black Dodge Charger.

Interestingly, McQueen's next role was a total departure from the action genre, as he played Southerner "Boon Hogganbeck" in the family oriented The Reivers, based on the popular William Faulkner novel. Not surprisingly, the film had a tepid response from film fans, even though it was an entertaining and well made production, and McQueen showed an interesting comedic side of his acting talents. McQueen returned to more familiar territory in 1971, with the race film Le Mans, which was a rather self-indulgent exercise, and its slow plot saw it perform rather poorly in theaters. It wasn't until many years later that Le Mans became something of a cult film, primarily because of the footage of Porsche 917s roaring around race tracks in France. McQueen then teamed up with Hollywood "bad boy" director Sam Peckinpah to star in the modern western Junior Bonner, about a family of rodeo riders, and then as bank robber "Doc McCoy" in the violent The Getaway. Both did good business at the box office. His next screen role was a refreshing surprise and Papillon, based on the 'Henri Charriere' novel of the same name, was well received by fans and critics alike! McQueen plays a convict on a French penal colony in South America, who persists in trying to escape from his captors and feels their wrath when his attempts fail.

The 1970s is remembered for a slew of "disaster movies" and McQueen starred in arguably the biggest of the time, The Towering Inferno. McQueen shared equal top billing with fellow male star Paul Newman and an impressive line-up of co-stars including Fred Astaire, Robert Vaughn and Faye Dunaway. McQueen does not appear until roughly half way into the films running time as San Francisco fire chief "Mike O'Hallaran", battling to extinguish a fierce blaze in a 138-storey skyscraper. The film was a monster hit and set the benchmark for other disaster movies that followed. It was, however, McQueen's last film role for several years, as he began a long fight against cancer, often resorting to off-beat therapies in an attempt to beat the illness. After a 4-year hiatus, McQueen surprised fans, and in his next role, he was almost unrecognizable under long hair and a beard as a rabble-rousing early environmentalist in An Enemy of the People, based on the Henrik Ibsen play.

With the advancing cancer taking its toll on his body, McQueen's last two film performances were in the unusual western Tom Horn, and then portraying real-life bounty hunter Ralph "Papa' Thorson (Ralph Thorson) in The Hunter. Steve McQueen passed away on November 7th, 1980, only 50 years of age, and his ashes were scattered at sea. He married three times and had a life-long love of motor racing, once remarking, "Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting."


The Hunter (1980): $3,000,000 + 15% of gross
Tom Horn (1980): 3,000,000 + 10% of the gross
An Enemy of the People (1978): $1,500 a week
The Towering Inferno (1974): $1,500,000 + 10% of the gross
Papillon (1973): $2,300,000 + % of gross
The Getaway (1972): No up front fee in exchange for 10% of the gross.
Junior Bonner (1972): $500,000
Le Mans (1971): $750,000 + % of the gross
The Reivers (1969): $700,000
Bullitt (1968): $1,000,000
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968): $700,000
The Sand Pebbles (1966): $250,000
Nevada Smith (1966): $500,000
Love with the Proper Stranger (1963): $300,000
Soldier in the Rain (1963): $300,000
The Great Escape (1963): $400,000
The War Lover (1962): $75,000
Hell Is for Heroes (1962): $150,000
The Honeymoon Machine (1961): $100,000
The Magnificent Seven (1960): $100,000
Never So Few (1959): $75,000
The St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959): $4,000
The Blob (1958): $3,000
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956): $19/day

Of the 2000 performers that auditioned for Lee Strasberg's exclusive Actors' Studio in 1955, only two were accepted: Martin Landau and McQueen. A week before the Woodstock Music Festival kicked off in Bethel, New York, McQueen had been invited for dinner at the Roman Polanski-Sharon Tate home in the Hollywood hills by mutual friend and hairdresser-to the-stars, Jay Sebring. An unexpected rendezvous with a mystery woman prompted him to cancel his appointment. In the wake of the Manson Family Tate-LaBianca murders at, respectively, 10050 Cielo Drive and 3301 Waverly Drive, McQueen would later learn that he was accorded the kind of priority billing for which he was unprepared: he topped Charles Manson's celebrity death list. Thereafter he carried a concealed weapon. (see also: Jerzy Kosinski and Jeremy Lloyd.) [8 August 1969] Issued a private pilot's license by the FAA in 1979 after learning to fly in a Stearman bi-plane, which he purchased for that purpose. After his death it was sold at auction,along with his large collection of vehicles, in 1982. Trained in Tang Soo Do with 9th degree blackbelt Pat E. Johnson (NOT Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris as is popularly believed.) His son was trained in karate by Norris. Lee trained him in Jeet Kune Do. Was diagnosed with a form of lung cancer, mesothelioma, which is related to asbestos exposure, although McQueen had been a heavy smoker as well, which may have been a contributing factor. He wore an asbestos-insulated racers suit in his race cars, and possibly was exposed to the harmful insulating material during his stint in the Marines. His first wife recalled many instances when he had recklessly exposed himself to the harmful substance by soaking a rag in liquid asbestos and placing it over his mouth while racing cars. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#19). [1995] Dropped out of school in 9th grade. He proposed the idea for a film The Bodyguard (1992) in 1976, but this was forgotten for 16 years until 1992, when Kevin Costner revived it. Diagnosed with mesothelioma lung cancer on December 22, 1979, but kept his terminal illness a secret up until over a month before his death. Sheryl Crow made a song titled 'Steve McQueen' as a tribute to him. It is featured on the album "C'mon C'mon". Was originally slated to star with Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); however, due to a disagreement over the billing, he left the project. Ironically, the billing method was used several years later when he and Newman starred together in The Towering Inferno (1974). The band Drive-By Truckers have the tribute song "Steve McQueen" featured on their 1998 album "Gangstabilly". After being told his lung cancer was inoperable, he went to a health clinic in Mexico to undergo a controversial "apricot pit" therapy that is still banned in the United States. Appears, helmeted and uncredited, as a motorcyclist in the 1976 B-movie Dixie Dynamite (1976), starring Warren Oates and Christopher George. Legend has it that the call went out for dirt bike riders to take part in this low-budget action adventure, and among those who turned up was McQueen. Heavily bearded and overweight, he kept a low profile (this was during his reclusive period when he was turning down multi-million-dollar offers for such films as A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Apocalypse Now (1979)), and was only noticed when he queued up to accept his day's payment, about $120. The astonished production assistant handing out the cash saw his name on a list and said, "Is that THE Steve McQueen?". McQueen's riding style (standing on his foot pedals, leaning forward, head over the handlebars) makes him immediately identifiable to bike buffs. The "King of Cool" became a born-again Christian shortly before he died, due to the influence of his third wife Barbara Minty and his flying instructor Sammy Mason. He went through bible studies with the Reverend Billy Graham. It is interesting to note that this conversion happened before he was diagnosed with cancer, meaning it was probably genuine. McQueen's favorite Bible verse was John 3:16 which reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life". Upon meeting Martin Landau, McQueen told Landau he had already met him. Landau, who didn't remember McQueen, inquired as to where. McQueen told him that he -- Landau -- was on the back of James Dean's motorcycle when Dean brought it in for repairs at a NYC garage. The motorcycle mechanic at the garage was none other than McQueen. He was voted the 31st Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. According to military records released by the Pentagon in 2005, Marine Private First Class Steve McQueen was confined to base for being absent without leave for 30 days and fined $90 after being AWOL from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. McQueen joined the Marines Corps at 17 and worked as a tank driver and mechanic, which probably spurred his lifelong interest in vehicles, especially motorcycles. He received a commendation for rescuing five Marines in a training accident, and later took advantage of military educational benefits to study at the Actors' Studio in New York City. Appeared in three different films with Robert Vaughn: The Magnificent Seven (1960); Bullitt (1968) and The Towering Inferno (1974). Always resented the fact that Horst Buchholz was cast as Chico in The Magnificent Seven (1960), the role he had initially wanted. In the movie S.W.A.T. (2003), Colin Farrell's character of Jim Street has a poster of McQueen's Bullitt (1968) in his apartment. In real life, Farrell frequently cites McQueen as one of his idols and influences as an actor. Of all the characters he ever played, he frequently cited Lt. Frank Bullitt from Bullitt (1968) as his favorite. His only two appearances at the Academy Awards was as a presenter: (1964) Presented the Oscar for Best Sound. (1965) Holding hands with Claudia Cardinale presented the Oscar again for Best Sound Former father-in-law of Stacey Toten. McQueen's name somehow appeared on President Richard Nixon's "List of Enemies" in 1972. In reality, McQueen was conservative in his political beliefs, with a strong belief in self-help. In 1963, he had declined to participate in the March on Washington for civil rights and, in 1968, he refused to join many of his Hollywood peers in supporting Senator Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign. An incredulous Ali MacGraw asked McQueen how he could have been considered a threat by Nixon, adding, "You are the most patriotic person I know!" McQueen responded to the whole affair by flying an enormous American flag outside his house. Before his death, McQueen optioned two screenplays from Walter Hill: The Driver (1978) and "The Last Gun". The Driver (1978) got made later, with 'Ryan O'Neal (I)' playing the lead part, and "The Last Gun" remains unproduced. After The Towering Inferno (1974) he was offered several multi-million-dollar roles but refused them all. He turned down the chance to star in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Superman (1978), Raise the Titanic (1980) and the opportunity to star in and direct a film called "Deajum's Wife". Died of the same cause (lung cancer) as his The Magnificent Seven (1960) co-star Yul Brynner, though McQueen's cancer was brought on by exposure to asbestos and Brynner's was due to smoking. Following the release of Bullitt (1968) McQueen found it hilarious how he was considered the coolest celebrity by teenagers, despite being nearly forty. In that same year he declared his support for the Vietnam War and voted for Richard Nixon in November's presidential election. Was offered the co-starring role in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). However, he was still under contract for his TV series "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958), which prevented him from appearing. The role eventually went to George Peppard. Turned down the role in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969). Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in April 2007. Was considered for the role of Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979). The part eventually went to Marlon Brando. Intended to retire after filming The Towering Inferno (1974). Inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978. Turned down Clint Eastwood's role in Dirty Harry (1971). His friend and co-star Richard Attenborough said that if McQueen had lived for longer he would have been regarded as the greatest film actor since Spencer Tracy. He later regretted turning down Roy Scheider's role in Sorcerer (1977). Kevin Costner has named McQueen as his favorite actor, and his main influence as an actor. Quigley Down Under (1990) was written for McQueen in the 1970s. Was considered, but ultimately rejected, for the role of Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (1974). Turned down Clint Eastwood's role in The Gauntlet (1977) because he didn't want to work with the first choice for the female lead, Barbra Streisand. Turned down Marlon Brando's role in The Missouri Breaks (1976) and George C. Scott's role in Islands in the Stream (1977) because he claimed to be completely retired from acting. Turned down Ocean's Eleven (1960) on the advice of his friend Hedda Hopper, who told him to be his own man rather than Frank Sinatra's "flunky". Former longtime girlfriend, Barbara Leigh, wrote about their relationship in her book "The King, McQueen, and the Love Machine.".