Steve McQueen is a Hollywood legend. Glory to the actor was brought by the images of ironic heroes, cool lone wolves fighting injustice. Steve McQueen is also known as a motorcycle and racing driver. The most famous films of the actor were The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair and the thriller The Hunter.
Both in sports and during filming, the artist was distinguished by excellent discipline. More reckless he was in real life.
An uneasy road to a vocation
The full name of the actor is Terence Stephen McQueen. He was born in 1930, March 24 in Beach Grove. The father of the future celebrity left the family when the child was not six months old.
The boy was transferred to the upbringing of his grandparents. Steve grew up on a farm. He returned to his mother after eight years of separation. However, the period of life together did not bring joy.
Due to illness, the boy partially lost his hearing. He could not find a common language with his mother's new companion and with her. Stephen ran away from home several times.
He ended up in bad company. The difficult teenager was sent to a special school. There, the attitude towards McQueen's life gradually began to change.
After graduation, he had no more problems with the law. However, he retained his love for reckless entertainment until the end of his life. After graduation, the graduate became a sailor, went to the Dominican Republic several times.
In 1947 he enlisted in the Marine Corps. During the exercises, McQueen rescued colleagues crushed by an ice floe in the Arctic and became a hero.
The biography of the demobilized Stephen was supplemented by studies at the Faculty of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. However, the student was expelled after he rode a motorcycle through the corridors.
Stephen decided to become an actor. He went to the Saintford Miner School, while simultaneously taking up motorcycle racing. Suddenly it turned out that the guy had real talent for the latter.
Later Steve graduated from one of the world's most recognized personal acting studios with Lee Strastberg. He was credited after going through a giant competition.
Film career
By the mid-fifties, McQueen was making his television debut in several films. The most famous work was the film in the genre of sports drama "Someone Up There Loves Me".
The debut iconic film was the serial Western Wanted: Dead or Alive. The series was shown for five years.
At first, Frank Sinatra drew attention to Stephen. He invited the actor to play Sergeant Ring in the military drama "So Little Never".
Then the directors John Sterzhes involved a novice performer in the "Magnificent Seven", which brought the artist superpopularity.
Usually McQueen was offered to star in westerns, action films or crime dramas. Viewers saw a tough hero who easily punishes unfair negative characters.
Notable were the military project "Lover of War", the western "Young Bonner", the films "The Great Escape" and "Hell in the Sky", in the genres of action and disaster. The performer also participated in comedy projects.
Notable works
He starred in the romantic movies The Cincinnati Kid and Love with the Right Stranger. A special place in Steve's filmmaking is given to the film "Bullitt".
For his work in the thriller, the actor was nominated for an Oscar.
The landmark work was also "The Thomas Crown Affair", which became the ancestor of a whole series of films about robberies from the point of view of a criminal, and a tape in the genre of the sports drama "Le Mans".
In the latest project, Steve demonstrated his driving class to moviegoers.
McQueen's final works were the thriller The Hunter, a biopic about a private detective, and Tom Horn in the western genre.
Many famous directors dreamed of working with Stephen. They were not afraid of the difficult character of the celebrity.
Private life
For the actor, a script was specially written by Steven Spielberg. However, the artist was forced to refuse filming in "Contacts of the Third Degree": he categorically objected to tears in the frame.
Stephen's personal life turned out to be akin to a frantic race. He married three times, began many novels.
The first marriage took place in 1956. The actress Neil Adams became the chosen one of the famous racer and performer.
The family had two children, daughter Terry Leslie and son Chad. The star's grandson Stephen R. McQueen continued the dynasty, becoming a famous artist who starred in the series "The Vampire Diaries".
Steve and Neil's family remained for sixteen years. Then McQueen went to the main love of his life, partner in "Escape" Eli McGraw. Even after his divorce from her in 1978, he retained tender feelings.
The third marriage took place in 1979. Model Barbara Minty became the artist's wife. She later wrote a book about her husband.
Last years
In the life of Stephen there were many stellar romances. He dated fashion models, famous actresses, popular in the sixties and seventies. One of these dates even saved his life. The performer refused to attend the secular party to which he was invited.
Stephen decided to have a romantic meeting. It was on that evening that Charles Manson's gang broke into the event to kill McQueen. The famous artist was on their "black list".
Stephen has always been interested in sports. He was engaged in martial arts, was friends with Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee.
Among the necessary conditions for the actor on each shoot was the provision of new clothes, perfume, electric shavers. All these things he forwarded to "Boys Republic", which once helped him to become a different special school.
Having become famous, the actor visited her more than once in order to show his students by his example that fate is in their own hands.
In 1978, Stephen's health began to deteriorate. Two years later, doctors diagnosed him with oncology. The actor fought the disease to the last. McQueen died in 1980, in early November.
A lot of pictures were shot in his memory. Among them are "Man at the Limit", "Steve McQueen: Man and Racer." The song of the singer Sherrill Crow is dedicated to him.
