Steve Mcqueen Biography

Steve McQueen was an American actor. He was named “The King of Cool”, and his antihero persona developed at the height of the counterculture of the 1960s made him a top box-office draw of the 1960s and 1970s. He was the recepient of an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Sand Pebbles.

Other of his popular films include The Cincinnati Kid, Love With the Proper Stranger, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, and Papillon, as well as the all-star ensemble films The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, and The Towering Inferno. In 1974, he became the highest-paid movie star in the world, although he did not act in films again for four years. McQueen was combative with directors and producers, but his popularity placed him in high demand and enabled him to command large salaries.

Steve Mcqueen Family

Steve McQueen (born Terrence Stephen McQueen) was born at St. Francis Hospital in Beech Grove, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. He was of Scottish descent and was raised as a Roman Catholic. His father, William McQueen (1907–1958) was a stunt pilot for a barnstorming flying circus who left McQueen’s mother, Julia Ann (a.k.a. Julian) (1910–1965), 6 months after meeting her. It was said that his mother was an alcoholic and hence was unable to cope with caring for a small child, so she left him with her parents (Victor and Lillian) in Slater, Missouri in 1933.

Thereafter McQueen and his grandparents moved in with Lillian’s brother Claude at his farm in Slater and he expressed having good memories of living on the farm, noting that his great-uncle Claude. Dyslexic and partially deaf due to a childhood ear infection, he did not adjust well to his new life, for his new stepfather beat him to such an extent that at the age of nine, he left home to live on the streets, where he ran with a street gang and committing acts of petty crime.

Unable to control his behavior, his mother sent him back to Slater. When he was 12, Julia wrote to Claude, asking that her son be returned to her again to live in her new home in Los Angeles, California. Julia’s second marriage had ended in divorce, and she had married a third time.

After the incident McQueen’s stepfather persuaded his mother to sign a court order stating that McQueen was incorrigible, reminding him to the California Junior Boys Republic in Chino. Here, McQueen began to change and mature. He was not popular with the other boys at first: “Say the boys had a chance once a month to load into a bus and go into town to see a movie. And they lost out as a result of one guy within the cottage did not get his work done right. Well, you can pretty well guess they’re gonna have something to say about that.

I paid my dues with the opposite fellows quite a few times. I got my lumps, no doubt about it. The other guys in the bungalow had ways of paying you back for interfering with their well-being.” Ultimately McQueen became a role model and was elected to the Boys Council, a bunch World Health Organization set the foundations and laws governing the boys’ lives. He eventually left the Boys Republic at age 16. When he later became renowned he frequently came back to speak to the boys and preserved a womb-to-tomb association.

At sixteen McQueen left chino cloth Hills and came back to his mother, currently living in a residential area, New York. He then met two sailors from the Merchant Marine and volunteered to serve on a ship bound for the Dominican Republic. Once there he abandoned his new post, eventually being employed in a brothel; afterward, McQueen made his way to Texas and drifted from job to job. He worked as a roughneck, a carnival barker and a lumberjack.

Steve Mcqueen Age

He was born on March 24, 1930, and died on November 7, 1980, at the age of 50 years.

Steve Mcqueen Wife

McQueen was married three times. On November 2, 1956, he married actress Neile Adams, with whom he had a daughter, Terry Leslie who was born on June 5, 1959, and died on March 19, 1998, and a son, Chad who was born on December 28, 1960. McQueen and Adams divorced in 1972.

On August 31, 1973, McQueen married actress Ali MacGraw, his co-star in The Getaway, but this marriage ended in divorce in 1978. MacGraw suffered a miscarriage during their marriage. On January 16, 1980, less than a year before his death, McQueen married model Barbara Minty.

Steve Mcqueen Kids – Steve Mcqueen Children – Steve Mcqueen Son

He had a daughter, Terry Leslie who was born on June 5, 1959, and died on March 19, 1998, from respiratory failure after receiving a liver transplant, and a son, Chad who was born on December 28, 1960.

Steve Mcqueen Grandson

One of McQueen’s four grandchildren is actor Steven R. McQueen. Steven R. McQueen is best known for playing Jeremy Gilbert in The Vampire Diaries. Terry had one daughter, Molly Flattery (1987) and Chad has three children, Steven R. McQueen (1988), Chase (1995) and Madison (1997).

Steve Mcqueen Career

His first leading role was in the 1958 horror movie The Blob. His big break came when he replaced Sammy Davis, Jr. in the film Never So Few which starred Frank Sinatra. The always confident Sinatra took a liking to Steve and urged the director, John Sturges, to “Give the newcomer a break”. Sturges recognizing McQueen’s raw talent offered him roles in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape. Other classic McQueen films include Bullitt, Papillon, The Sand Pebbles, The Getaway, Le Mans, The Thomas Crown Affair, Junior Bonner, Tom Horn, and The Towering Inferno among others. His last film was The Hunter in 1980.

McQueen was a tremendous motorcyclist and racecar driver. When insurance companies for the films allowed, he would perform many of his own stunts. His most famous stunts were performed in The Great Escape where he did much of the bike riding and Bullitt where he did much of the driving. Much to his dismay, the insurance companies would not allow him to perform the most dangerous stunts in either film which he always regretted. Contrary to popular belief, McQueen did not perform the famous fence jump in The Great Escape. Instead, his good friend and stunt driver Bud Ekins made the jump. Steve always made a point to credit Bud Ekins for the jump whenever asked about it during interviews.

His love of racing led to movies and documentaries involving both car and motorcycle racing. He made the film Le Mans in 1971 which is considered one of the best “documentary” films about the racing world. He did much of his own driving in the film. He wanted to enter the actual Le Mans race that year but again the insurance companies intervened. He also made the documentary film On Any Sunday. It follows the lives of motorcycle racers and racing enthusiasts, including actor Steve McQueen. First asking the question “Why do they do it?” this film looks at the people who devote (and sometimes risk) their lives to racing on tracks and off-road courses around the world.

It is considered one of the best documentaries of it’s kind to even now. It was funded by his own production company, Solar Productions. He owned dozens of classic motorcycles and exotic sports cars worth millions. He was quite the “Man’s Man”, he rode bikes, flew planes, raced cars and was a 3rd-degree black belt in karate. He trained under ninth degree black belt, Pat Johnson. He was also great friends with Martial Arts experts Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. He was a pallbearer at Bruce Lee’s funeral and both inspired and encouraged Chuck Norris to become an actor. Incidentally, both Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris taught Steve’s son, Chad, various forms of martial arts in which he excels as well.

Steve Mcqueen Movies and TV Shows

Steve Mcqueen Movies – Steve Mcqueen Films

• 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
• The Thomas Crown Affair – 1968
• Bullitt – 1968
• The Reivers – 1969
• Le Mans – 1971
• On Any Sunday – 1971
• Junior Bonner – 1972
• The Getaway – 1972
• Papillon – 1973
• The Towering Inferno – 1974
• An Enemy of the People – 1978
• Tom Horn – 1980
• The Hunter – 1980

TV Shows

• 1955 – Goodyear Television Playhouse
• 1956 – The United States Steel Hour
• 1957 – Westinghouse Studio One
• 1957 – Westinghouse Studio One
• 1957 – The West Point Story
• 1957 – The 20th Century Fox Hour
• 1957 – The Big Story
• 1958 – Climax!
• 1958 – Tales of Wells Fargo
• 1958 – Trackdown
• 1958 – Trackdown
• 1958–61 – Wanted Dead or Alive
• 1959 – Alfred Hitchcock Presents
• 1960 – Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Steve Mcqueen Awards

Academy Awards

• (1967) Nominated – Best Actor in a Leading Role in The Sand Pebbles

Golden Globe Awards

• (1964) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama in Love with the Proper Stranger
• (1967) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama in The Sand Pebbles
• (1970) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in The Reivers
• (1974) Nominated – Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama in Papillon

Moscow International Film Festival

• (1963) – Won – Best Actor in The Great Escape

Steve Mcqueen Net Worth

He had an estimated net worth of $30 million.

Steve Mcqueen Image

Steve Mcqueen Cause of Death – What did Steve Mcqueen Died of

McQueen died of cardiac arrest on November 7, 1980, at the Juárez clinic, 12 hours after surgery to remove or reduce numerous metastatic tumors in his neck and abdomen. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Steve Mcqueen – Video