Also Known As

Terrence Steven Mcqueen, Steven Mcqueen

Birth Place

Beech Grove, Indiana, United states of america

Born

March 24, 1930

Died

November 07, 1980

Cause of Death

Eye Attack Following Surgery For Lung Cancer

A brooding performer with a rebellious streak and a proclivity for speed, actor Steve McQueen forever changed the definition of the Hollywood leading man with roles equally repose, merely tough protagonists who sought their ain methods outside the bounds of authority. Dubbed "The Rex of Absurd," McQueen ushered in a new brood of antiheroes who allowable the begrudging respect - along with big sa...

Family & Companions

Read More

Neile Adams

Married woman

Actor, dancer, singer. Born c. 1934; introduced to McQueen by mutual friend Marker Rydell whom she had dated; appeared on Broadway in "Pajama Game"; married in Nov 1956; assisted McQueen in choosing scripts during their union; reportedly McQueen turned abusive in the early 1970s while overindulging in drugs and booze; separated in 1971 divorced in 1972; mother of McQueen'south two children; married Alvin E Toffel in 1980.

Barbara Leigh

Companion

Histrion, model. Acted opposite McQueen in "Junior Bonner".

Ali MacGraw

Wife

Actor. Married in June 1973; filed for divorce in November 1977; divorced in 1978; became romantically involved during the making of "The Getaway" (1972).

Barbara Minty

Wife

Model. Born c. 1955; began human relationship in 1977; married from January 16, 1980 until his death.

"Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel"

Marshall Terrill (1994)

"My Husband, My Friend"

Neile Adams (1986)

McQueen was reportedly on the Manson family's hit list. In a twist of fate, he was supposed to have dinner with Sharon Tate on the dark she was murdered simply met a immature woman with whom he decided to have a one-night stand up.

"1 afternoon on location...I was sitting in that location reading my script...and Frank crept upward backside me and slipped a lighted firecracker in one of the loops of my gunbelt. When that affair went off I jumped virtually three feet straight upwardly. Which naturally delighted Frank. So I grabbed one of the Tommy guns we were using in the film and jammed in a full prune--l rounds. Sinatra was walking away laughing it up with his buddies, when I yelled at him, 'Hey, Frank!' He turned effectually and I let him accept it, zap-zap-zap-zap, the whole prune." Blanks fired at close range can be quite painful and the whole gear up fell quiet while waiting to run into what Sinatra's reaction would be. As McQueen stood there staring at Sinatra, the star, ".., simply started laughing, and it was all over. Later on that, we got along fine. In fact, nosotros tossed firecrackers at each other through the pic." --Steve McQueen on filming "Never So Few" in William F Nolan's biography "McQueen"

Biography

A brooding performer with a rebellious streak and a proclivity for speed, player Steve McQueen forever changed the definition of the Hollywood leading human with roles equally repose, but tough protagonists who sought their own methods exterior the bounds of authority. Dubbed "The King of Cool," McQueen ushered in a new brood of antiheroes who commanded the acrimonious respect - along with large salaries - of studio producers and directors, while alluring millions of moviegoer fans effectually the world. Though he made a proper noun for himself as the star of the pop Western series "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (CBS, 1958-1961), McQueen about stole the carpeting from nether star Yul Brynner in the acclaimed picture show "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). He adjacent portrayed a brash, but wily escape creative person in "The Great Escape" (1963) before giving acclaimed performances in "The Cincinnati Child" (1965) and "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), the latter of which earned him his only Academy Award nomination. Post-obit a small break from the screen, McQueen entered into his most memorable phase with "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and "Bullitt" (1968), which featured what many considered to be the greatest car chase ever seen on film. Subsequently the underperforming race pic "Le Mans" (1971), he had one of the biggest hits of the twelvemonth with "The Getaway" (1972) and delivered a solid turn as an escaped prisoner in "Papillion" (1973). Following the ballsy disaster movie, "The Towering Inferno" (1974), McQueen's career striking a downwards slope that was subsequently revealed to exist the result of his battle with lung cancer. Though his life and career were cut short at historic period 50, McQueen remained one of the nigh iconic and beloved flick stars of the latter half of the 20th century.

Born on March 24, 1930 in Beech Grove, IN, McQueen's father, Terrence, was a stunt airplane pilot for a flying circus who abandoned his six-month-quondam son and alcoholic wife, Julian. Unable to handle raising a small child, McQueen'southward mother left him in the care of her parents in Slater, MO, where he grew up on a farm and experienced something of a normal childhood, which he later recalled with fondness. Simply when he was viii years quondam, McQueen was taken dorsum past his female parent and her new husband, an unhappy transition that resulted in him running with a street gang and committing little crimes. His wayward beliefs forced his mother to send him back to Slater, only to repossess him a few years later. Now 12 years onetime, he went to live in Los Angeles with Julian and her third husband, whom he afterwards described equally a "son of a bitch," because he routinely beat McQueen and his mother. Once again, he fell in with the incorrect crowd and resumed his life of footling crime, which included getting picked upwardly by police for stealing hubcaps. This led to his stepfather severely chirapsia McQueen and throwing him downwards the stairs.

Because he seemed to be a hopeless juvenile delinquent, McQueen was sent past his female parent to the California Inferior Boys Republic, a reform school in Chino Hills, CA, at the behest of his abusive stepfather. Though initially resistant to being in a boys home, which led to another round of beatings, McQueen eventually wised upwards and matured. The experience must take made an impression on the young human being, considering as an role player he adult an unusual reputation of requesting free items in bulk like razors, dress and other products from flick studios. It was after discovered that he donated the items to the reform school, and went back occasionally to play puddle with the students and talk about his experiences. Afterwards he leaving Chino, McQueen went back to alive with his female parent, who was by then living in Greenwich Village, only to leave nearly immediately to join the Merchant Marines. Nonetheless, he abandoned that job and found his style to Texas, where he drifted in and out of jobs, working on an oil rig, at a funfair, and every bit a lumberjack.

Following his life as a drifter, McQueen joined the U.s. Marine Corps in 1947, only to find himself running afoul against authority once again when he landed in the brig for failing to return on time from a weekend pass. Afterwards serving three years as a tank commuter, he received his honorable belch and once again returned to New York, where he worked a series of odd jobs before looking into acting at a friend's proposition. With his Thousand.I. Bill money, McQueen joined The Neighborhood Playhouse Schoolhouse of the Theatre in 1951 and learned his craft from master Sanford Meisner. He made a number of appearances in off-Broadway productions before making his debut on Broadway in the play "A Hatful of Rain" (1955). The following year, he made his movie debut with a bit office in "Somebody Upwards There Likes Me" (1956), starring Paul Newman, also every bit in a diversity of tv guest appearances. In 1956, McQueen married Manila-born actress Neile Adams, with whom he had a daughter, Terry, and a son, Chad. Meanwhile, his career picked up steam with his commencement leading function, playing a teenager who does battle with a giant mass of goop terrorizing a pocket-sized town in "The Hulk" (1958).

In 1958, McQueen portrayed the character of bounty hunter Josh Randall and so perfectly in an episode of the Western series, "Trackdown" (CBS, 1957-59), that it led him to his breakout role on his own series, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (CBS, 1958-1961), in which he played a former Confederate soldier and bounty hunter who all the same has a heart. McQueen made 94 episodes until early 1961, when he withdrew from the series to focus his energy on a budding film career. Frank Sinatra gave the and then 29-year-onetime his first big suspension in the film "Never So Few" (1959), afterwards the crooner yanked the role from pal Sammy Davis, Jr., after beingness criticized by him during a radio interview. McQueen's character, Bill Ringa, epitomized the roles he would later play in almost all of his movies: cool, understated and extremely at ease behind the wheel of a fast-moving vehicle. McQueen next had his commencement major hit, "The Magnificent 7" (1960), which cast him aslope Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn and James Coburn equally i of 7 gunslingers hired by a Mexican farming village to end information technology from existence pillaged past a vicious bandit (Eli Wallach) and his gang. Closely modeled on Akira Kurosawa'due south "Seven Samurai" (1954), the Western was a big success that spawned three sequels and subsequently a television series.

McQueen's star kept rising, thanks to a number of blockbuster hits such equally "The Great Escape" (1963), an action-packed World War II movie that showcased one of the most memorable motorcycle leaps seen onscreen during the film's climax. McQueen, an accomplished motorcyclist, performed many of the daredevil stunts in the moving-picture show, but due to insurance purposes, was not allowed to perform the last scene. Instead, his friend and boyfriend motorcyclist, Bud Elkins, made the actual leap. Around this time, McQueen was one of the globe'southward highest-paid actors, despite his rumored belligerent mental attitude with motion-picture show executives. He starred as the titular character in "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), playing a professional poker player who steps into the big fourth dimension when he challenges reigning champ, The Man (Edward G. Robinson), to a private game. Subsequently starring as "Nevada Smith" (1966), McQueen received his 1 and simply Oscar nomination for his role in "The Sand Pebbles" (1966), playing a Navy engine room sailor whose ship gets caught up in Cathay'south ceremonious war in 1926. Absent from the screen for two years, he returned with two iconic performances. First he was a bored millionaire who lives life on the edge robbing banks in "The Thomas Crown Thing" (1968), followed by an dominance-despising cop detective on the hunt for the assassin of a state's witness in "Bullitt" (1968), which featured a nearly x-minute car hunt through the streets of San Francisco that many critics and film buffs have cited every bit the greatest ever captured on motion picture. As an avid racer himself, McQueen performed much of the driving aside from the most dangerous stunts during that scene.

Following an atypical turn as a ne'er-practise-well farmhand in the coming-of-age family unit drama, "The Reivers" (1969), McQueen was perfectly cast equally a champion race machine driver with a night past in the racing take chances "Le Mans" (1971), which failed to attract an audition upon its theatrical release, but gathered a cult following throughout the years. One time over again, McQueen was backside the wheel for many of the movie'south driving sequences. He kept riding high and fast as ane of Hollywood's most popular stars with Sam Peckinpah'due south excellent criminal offence thriller, "The Getaway" (1972), a big box office smash about husband and wife criminals (McQueen and Ali McGraw) who are double-crossed following a heist by a scheming politician (Ben Johnson). Aside from its financial success, "The Getaway" became notorious for McQueen finer stealing abroad McGraw from her married man, famed producer Robert Evans, during production. By this time, McQueen divorced his first married woman, Neile Adams, and married McGraw in 1973, merely to file for divorce 4 years afterwards. Meanwhile, he delivered an inspiring performance in "Papillon" (1973), playing real-life convict, Henri Charrière, who became famous for becoming the only person to escape from the hard labor camp, Devil's Island, off the coast of French Guiana.

Throughout his career, McQueen pursued auto and motorcycle racing with the aforementioned exuberance as he had for acting. In the 12 Hours of Sebring Race of 1970, the actor and Peter Revson won in their class, losing only by a few seconds to Mario Andretti with a Porsche 908/02. It was the same motorcar that was used equally a photographic camera car in the film "Le Mans." The histrion too competed in off-road motorcycle racing, often entering competitions under the pseudonym Harvey Mushman. McQueen raced in high-profile, off-road races during the 1960s and 1970s, including the Baja 1000, the Mint 400, and the Elsinore Grand Prix. He represented the United States in the International Six Days Trial in 1964 and was inducted in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978. Meanwhile, after "Papillon," he joined an all-star cast for the female parent of all 1970s disaster movies, "The Towering Inferno" (1974), which likewise starred Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, Faye Dunaway, Richard Chamberlain and William Holden all trapped in a fire in the world's tallest skyscraper. After that, McQueen largely disappeared from the movies, showing up for "An Enemy of the People" (1978), "Tom Horn" (1980) and "The Hunter" (1980), the latter considered to be one of his worst.

In January 1980, he married model Barbara Minty. While McQueen appeared ready for a comeback, his health was actually deteriorating unbeknownst to the public. He had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer brought on by exposure to asbestos which he traced back to his days in the U.S. Marines. McQueen traveled to Juarez, Mexico, seeking unconventional treatment against his doctors' advice. He later had an operation to remove a large tumor that doctors said would trigger cardiac arrest. That turned out to be the case and he died on November. 7, 1980 at only fifty years old. His body was cremated and his ashes were spread in the Pacific Bounding main. In 1999, McQueen was posthumously inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame. His legacy only grew following his death, as McQueen's estate became 1 of the highest grossing for deceased celebrities. In 2002, singer Sheryl Crow recorded the hit song "Steve McQueen," while three years afterward, Ford Motor Company used his ultra-cool likeness in a commercial via a body double for their new Mustang.

Life Events

1945

Ran away to California to live with mother and stepfather

1946

Moved with female parent to Greenwich Hamlet in NYC; lived with gay neighbor

1948

Served in Usa Marine Corps every bit a tank driver

1956

Feature debut in small function of Fidel in Robert Wise'due south "Somebody Upward At that place Likes Me", starring Paul Newman

1956

Broadway debut, replacing Ben Gazzara as Johnny Pope in "A Hatful of Rain"; fired after six weeks

1958

Attracted attention for his first starring turn in "The Hulk", a campy classic of cheap 1950s sci-fi

1958

Introduced grapheme of Josh Randall in episode of "Trackdown", starring Robert Culp

1959

Staged an "blow" in order to become out of Tv series commitment to deed in a feature

1959

Showtime film with managing director John Sturges, "Never So Few"

1960

Sturges' "The Magnificent Seven" reinforced him as a breviloquent loner in action

1961

Formed Solar Productions

1962

Adult his screen persona farther every bit a surly, rebellious, busted NCO in Don Siegel's "Hell Is for Heroes"

1963

Reteamed with Sturges, soaring as the motorcyle-riding American among mostly Brits in "The Neat Escape"

1964

Competed on USA team in motorbike race

1965

Acted the title office in Norman Jewison'south "The Cincinnati Kid"

1966

Played "Nevada Smith", directed past Henry Hathaway

1966

2d film with Wise, "The Sand Pebbles"; nominated for Best Player Oscar

1968

Cast confronting type every bit the suave mastermind of Jewison's "The Thomas Crown Affair"

1968

Offered a superb functioning as every bit crude, surly cop "Bullitt", particularly behind the wheel for one of the screen's all-time all-time motorcar chases through streets of San Francisco

1969

Ventured into (William) Faulkner country for "The Reivers"

1971

Returned behind the wheel for "Le Mans"; moving-picture show was a pet project that began with no script and John Sturges at the helm; Sturges dropped out after shooting many racing sequences

1972

Teamed with Sam Peckinpah for two pictures, the captivating rodeo comedy-drama "Junior Bonner" and "The Getaway", an enjoyable movie congenital effectually a chase

1973

Inspired performance as "Papillon", the man who defies solitary solitude, madness and aging to become a wistful genius of survival

1974

Presided over listless all-star project, "The Towering Inferno"; reteamed onscreen with Paul Newman

1977

Starred in Arthur Miller's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" (directed by George Schaefer), film sat on shelf for years and received only limited distribution

1979

First disgnosed with cancer caused by exposure to asbestos

Family unit

Lillian Crawford

Grandmother

Helped to enhance him.

Claude Thomson

Peachy-Uncle

Mother's uncle; helped to raise McQueen.

William McQueen

Father

Naval aviator. Abandoned McQueen's mother; died in 1959; McQueen attempted to locate his father simply found his widow three months later father'due south death.

Jullian Crawford Berri

Mother

Born in 1910; alcoholic; married at to the lowest degree one other fourth dimension later on divorced from McQueen's begetter; left son in intendance of her uncle and mother; died on Oct 15, 1965.

Terry Leslie McQueen

Daughter

Executive. Headed a film production company; built-in on June 5, 1959; died on March 12, 1998 of respiratory failure at historic period 38; mother, Neile Adams; survived by a daughter Molly, born c. 1987.

Chad McQueen

Son

Actor. Born on December 28, 1960; mother, Neile Adams.

Companions

Neile Adams

Wife

Player, dancer, vocalist. Born c. 1934; introduced to McQueen by common friend Mark Rydell whom she had dated; appeared on Broadway in "Pajama Game"; married in November 1956; assisted McQueen in choosing scripts during their marriage; reportedly McQueen turned calumniating in the early 1970s while overindulging in drugs and alcohol; separated in 1971 divorced in 1972; mother of McQueen's ii children; married Alvin E Toffel in 1980.

Barbara Leigh

Companion

Histrion, model. Acted opposite McQueen in "Inferior Bonner".

Ali MacGraw

Wife

Thespian. Married in June 1973; filed for divorce in November 1977; divorced in 1978; became romantically involved during the making of "The Getaway" (1972).

Barbara Minty

Wife

Model. Born c. 1955; began relationship in 1977; married from Jan 16, 1980 until his death.

Bibliography

"Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel"

Marshall Terrill (1994)

"My Married man, My Friend"

Neile Adams (1986)

Notes

McQueen was reportedly on the Manson family'southward hit list. In a twist of fate, he was supposed to have dinner with Sharon Tate on the night she was murdered merely met a immature woman with whom he decided to accept a ane-night stand.

"I afternoon on location...I was sitting there reading my script...and Frank crept up backside me and slipped a lighted firecracker in one of the loops of my gunbelt. When that thing went off I jumped about three feet directly up. Which naturally delighted Frank. And so I grabbed ane of the Tommy guns we were using in the film and jammed in a full clip--fifty rounds. Sinatra was walking away laughing it up with his buddies, when I yelled at him, 'Hey, Frank!' He turned around and I let him have it, zap-zap-zap-zap, the whole clip." Blanks fired at close range can be quite painful and the whole set up fell tranquillity while waiting to see what Sinatra's reaction would be. As McQueen stood there staring at Sinatra, the star, ".., just started laughing, and it was all over. After that, nosotros got along fine. In fact, we tossed firecrackers at each other through the picture." --Steve McQueen on filming "Never So Few" in William F Nolan'due south biography "McQueen"

"When a equus caballus learns to buy martinis, I'll learn to like horses." -- McQueen GQ September 2002