Steve McQueen
The King of Cool, Steve McQueen played the tough-guy antihero so convincingly because he was one. He grew up street gang touch with a petty crime rap-sheet. Once adjudicated “incorrigible”, he did time in reform school before the Marine Corps straightened him out. Still he never lost that edgy demeanor.
McQueen got to the big screen from the small screen, starting with an episode of Dale Robertson’s Tales of Wells Fargo. That got him an audition for the part of bounty hunter, Josh Randall for an episode of Trackdown paired with pal Robert Culp in the lead. McQueen got the part and the episode became the pilot for the 1958 CBS series, Wanted Dead or Alive.
Two years later McQueen’s big break came when he landed the part of Vin Tanner as one of The Magnificent Seven. How do you out cool a cast that includes Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Eli Wallach? Steve figured it out enough to annoy the presumptive lead Brenner.
In 1963 McQueen got the title role in Nevada Smith with Karl Malden and (be still my heart) Suzanne Pleshette. Next came rodeo rider, Junior Bonner (’72) directed by Sam Peckinpah. McQueen narrowly missed being cast opposite Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when the two sides couldn’t agree on who got top-billing.
Steve McQueen’s last Western, Tom Horn is of the quality to put it in a conversation of Western classics, it just doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. McQueen starred and directed the story of the legendary scout and gunman come assassin in the Johnson County War. Historically accurate and done to perfection, McQueen blew schedule and budget over the moon.
Off screen Steve McQueen lived life in the fast lane, competitively racing motorcycles and cars. He did his own driving stunts whenever he could get away with it. He was married three time, the second Ali MacGraw, the love of his life. He quietly visited inmates in the reform school where he did his time. Late in life he embraced Christianity before passing away from cancer and heart disease in 1980 at age 50. He holds a place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Next Week: John Wayne
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Ride easy,
Paul
McQueen got to the big screen from the small screen, starting with an episode of Dale Robertson’s Tales of Wells Fargo. That got him an audition for the part of bounty hunter, Josh Randall for an episode of Trackdown paired with pal Robert Culp in the lead. McQueen got the part and the episode became the pilot for the 1958 CBS series, Wanted Dead or Alive.
Two years later McQueen’s big break came when he landed the part of Vin Tanner as one of The Magnificent Seven. How do you out cool a cast that includes Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn and Eli Wallach? Steve figured it out enough to annoy the presumptive lead Brenner.
In 1963 McQueen got the title role in Nevada Smith with Karl Malden and (be still my heart) Suzanne Pleshette. Next came rodeo rider, Junior Bonner (’72) directed by Sam Peckinpah. McQueen narrowly missed being cast opposite Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when the two sides couldn’t agree on who got top-billing.
Steve McQueen’s last Western, Tom Horn is of the quality to put it in a conversation of Western classics, it just doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. McQueen starred and directed the story of the legendary scout and gunman come assassin in the Johnson County War. Historically accurate and done to perfection, McQueen blew schedule and budget over the moon.
Off screen Steve McQueen lived life in the fast lane, competitively racing motorcycles and cars. He did his own driving stunts whenever he could get away with it. He was married three time, the second Ali MacGraw, the love of his life. He quietly visited inmates in the reform school where he did his time. Late in life he embraced Christianity before passing away from cancer and heart disease in 1980 at age 50. He holds a place in the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Next Week: John Wayne
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
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