Steve McQueen (actor)

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Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen and his first wife Neile Adams in 1960
Steve McQueen in the Jaguar XK-SS 1960
Steve McQueen in his Ferrari 250 GT Lusso
Replica of Steve McQueen's Triumph Bonneville

Steven Terrence "Steve" McQueen (born March 24, 1930 in Beech Grove , Marion County , Indiana , † November 7, 1980 in Ciudad Juarez , Mexico ) was an American film and television actor. He was one of the most renowned film actors in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s and was in westerns like The Magnificent Seven , but also in adventure ( Papillon ) and action films ( Bullitt , Getaway )to see. In addition, he was passionate about motorcycle and car races.

Life

youth

The son of an alcoholic mother, McQueen spent his childhood on his uncle's farm in Slater , Missouri , without ever meeting his father. Later his mother took him to Indianapolis and Los Angeles , where he joined youth gangs. At the age of 14 he was sent to a home for difficult-to-educate boys. At the age of 17 he committed himself to three years of service with the United States Marine Corps after various jobs .

Acting career

Steve McQueen began his acting training in 1952 at an acting school in New York . He made his first film appearance in 1956 as a member of a youth gang in two scenes from the boxer film Hell is in me . The main role of the boxer Rocky Graziano was played by Paul Newman . This was followed by the war film When the Blood Boils , in which he appeared with Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida , as well as the science fiction film Blob .

The head of the production company Four Star Production, Dick Powell , hired McQueen for the American television series Wanted: Dead or Alive (German: The bounty hunter , alternatively Josh ), because he liked him in the feature film Blob . The series made McQueen known to a wide audience. Between 1958 and 1961, a total of 94 episodes were created with McQueen in the role of Josh Randall.

In 1960 McQueen was able to establish himself as a movie star with the remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic The Seven Samurai . The plot was moved to the Wild West , and the western appeared in theaters under the title The Magnificent Seven . Seven gunslingers , gamblers and adventurers help a village in Mexico that is being terrorized by bandits. In addition to the established star Yul Brynner , who played the lead role here as the leader of the group, actors such as James Coburn , Charles Bronson and McQueen acted , who established their successful cinema careers with this film. Other actors were Horst Buchholz , Robert Vaughn , Brad Dexter and Eli Wallach as the opposing gang leader. The film became a big box office success and became a classic. McQueen's salary was $ 100,000.

In 1963 McQueen played the central role of prisoner of war Virgil Hilts in Broken Chains , who escaped from a German prison camp several times during World War II. The film should originally have been shot in California, but it was decided to film it in Bavaria (Füssen in Allgäu). Quote from the director: “You know what Germany looks like? It looks like Germany! ". Many local students were hired to play supporting roles. The film is based on a true story that happened in the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag Luft III . The escape on a motorcycle was added to the script at McQueen's request. The film, which featured numerous well-known actors, was a huge success and finally established McQueen as the new cinema star.

The drama Cincinnati Kid (1965), in which McQueen portrays an ambitious poker player who competes against an old master player ( Edward G. Robinson ) , also became very popular . Other films from the 1960s were Western Nevada Smith , the thriller Bullitt and the war film Gunboat on the Yangtze River , set in China , in which he mimes the sailor Jake Holman. He received his only Academy Award nomination for the role in the 20th Century Fox film .

McQueen's portrayal of the wealthy and apparently reputable businessman Thomas Crown in the movie Thomas Crown is unbelievable is popular . Out of boredom, Crown organizes a bank robbery and then gets involved in a game of cat and mouse with the insurance detective (played by Faye Dunaway ) who has been set on him .

In the comedy Der Gauner , set in 1905 , he portrayed a chauffeur taking an extended jaunt with his boss's grandson. This film, which is rather atypical for McQueen, did not find a large audience, unlike the actor's other films from this period.

With director Sam Peckinpah , Steve McQueen shot the drama Junior Bonner from the milieu of rodeo riders and, alongside Ali MacGraw, the bloody crime thriller Getaway , in which a gangster and his wife flee across the American-Mexican border. With MacGraw, whom he met during the production of the gangster film, he was married from 1973 to 1978.

McQueen played a breakaway in the film adaptation of Papillon (1973), the autobiographical story of Henri Charrière . McQueen and Dustin Hoffman are two prisoners who break out of a penal colony in French Guiana and try to return to civilization. In addition to Paul Newman, McQueen played the equal lead role in the disaster film Flaming Inferno (1974).

After he had landed two big box office hits again with these films, McQueen withdrew from film work, although he was one of the most popular stars of his time alongside Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood and Robert Redford and regularly received high-value offers. McQueen has starred in The Great Gatsby (1974), Duel on the Missouri (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Breathless With Fear (1977), The Man Who Never Gives Up (1977), The Bridge Of Arnheim (1977), Superman (1978), Apocalypse Now (1979) or Raise the Titanic (1980) in conversation.

He played his most unusual role in 1978 in Ein Volksfeind . In this film adaptation of the play of the same name by Henrik Ibsen , which is set in Norway in 1880, he presented the doctor Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who warns the population of unclean water and is therefore declared an enemy of the people. This role was so far removed from McQueen's image as an action hero that the film was barely shown in theaters.

In 1979 McQueen starred in The Late Western Me, Tom Horn . In it he played an aging cowboy who is employed by ranchers to protect their livestock from theft. McQueen was criticized for the extremely brutal scenes of violence and the unpopular subject in the USA, but the portrayal of Tom Horn was one of his best acting performances.

McQueen played his last role in 1980 as a bounty hunter in the crime thriller Every Head Has Its Price .

Private

He was married to Neile Adams from 1957 to 1972 and had two children with her, their daughter Terry Leslie (* 1959), who died on March 19, 1998 in connection with a liver transplant, and their son Chad, who was born in 1960 . His grandson is the young actor Steven R. McQueen .

Affairs and his addiction to drugs led to divorce. In 1973 he married Ali MacGraw , who played the lead female role in Getaway . The relationship lasted five years. In 1977 he met the 24-year-old model Barbara Minty , the daughter of an Oregon farm owner. In their years together they lived mostly secluded on a ranch in Ketchum, Idaho; they married on January 16, 1980, the year he died. Barbara McQueen still lives on this ranch today. She was the only one allowed to take private photos of him; She had made this a condition of him at the beginning of the relationship.

Motorsport

Like his colleagues James Dean , Paul Newman and James Garner , McQueen was a keen motor sportsman. In 1964 he was a member of the US national team at the 39th International Six-Day Tour in motorcycle off-road racing in Erfurt . In 1970 he finished second in a Porsche 908/02 at the Sebring 12-hour race , not least thanks to his team-mate Peter Revson and the failures of many competitors.

His participation in the 1970 Le Mans 24-hour race in a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart was rejected. McQueen was allowed to shoot a Porsche 908 from racing scenes for the film Le Mans he produced . The film was not a hit with the public due to the meager plot and few dialogues. However, due to its documentary character through authentic recordings during the 24-hour race and the use of innovative film technology without special effects, it attracted great attention from motorsport fans.

With Bruce Brown he produced the documentary Devil Guys on Hot Fire Chairs about various types of motorcycle racing in the USA. He can also be seen as a driver in some racing scenes. In the 1968 Bullitt , McQueen himself was largely behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang Fastback in the legendary twelve-minute car chase in the streets of San Francisco . Some driving scenes that were particularly challenging were filmed with stuntman Bud Ekins, who died in 2007, at the wheel. The love of aviation began in March 1979, 19 months before his death. McQueen acquired a yellow Boeing Stearman , an old biplane , at the time . Built in 1940, before he even had a pilot's license. After acquiring the license, he was passionate about old airplanes, he also owned an old Pitcairn, a former biplane of the US mail.

Death and fame

Steve McQueen was diagnosed with pleural cancer while filming Every Head Has Its Price . He was a heavy smoker and while serving with the US Marines, he was exposed to asbestos-containing materials on ships.

He turned to the German alternative doctor Josef Issels , who later also saw Bob Marley . However, the therapy did not work. In search of treatment methods, he traveled to Mexico . In a clinic in Juarez he died at the age of 50 after an operation of a heart attack . After the cremation, Steve McQueen's ashes were scattered around the Pacific .

Steve McQueen often played loners who follow their own rules and was nicknamed "Mr." because of his casual, laconic style of representation. Cool". Often viewed as someone who embodied a particular era in style and demeanor, he is considered an iconic figure of popular culture beyond his death. For example, many years after his death, a TV commercial was produced that alludes to the famous chase from the film Bullitt and was incorporated into McQueen's pictures. Several pop songs make direct reference to McQueen, and the musicians, for example Sheryl Crow , express their admiration for the actor.

Filmography

Voice actor

Steve McQueen did not have a permanent voice actor . He was often spoken by Klaus Kindler (standard voice of Clint Eastwood ), who dubbed him in seven films between 1962 and 1980 (including Broken Chains , Papillon and Flaming Inferno ). Michael Chevalier , the standard spokesman for Charles Bronson , dubbed five films (including the gunboat on the Yangtze River and Le Mans ). Other McQueen speakers were Peer Schmidt , Dietmar Schönherr and Hansjörg Felmy . For the re-dubbing of Flammendes Inferno (2003) Thomas Danneberg was cast as McQueen's spokesman (this dubbed version was heavily criticized).

Trivia

  • The Rolling Stones named star Steve McQueen in their song . According to Keith Richards, her record company then put pressure on it. McQueen's management was predicted to be in trouble. Keith Richards 1973 in Bill Wyman's Rolling Stones Story (from 2002, p. 414):
“ Atlantic Records gave us a lot of unnecessary trouble about 'Star Star' - they even claimed Steve McQueen was taking legal action against the song for that one line about him. So we sent him a tape and of course he gave his okay. "

Motorsport statistics

Sebring results

year team vehicle Teammate placement Failure reason
1962 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Donald Healey Motor Co. Austin-Healey Sebring Sprite United StatesUnited States John Colgate failure Engine failure
1970 United StatesUnited States Solar Productions Inc. Porsche 908/02 United StatesUnited States Peter Revson Rank 2 and class win

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season team race car 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 12 13 14th 15th
1962 BMC
Donald Healey Motor Company 		Austin-Healey Sprite United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United StatesUnited States SEB ItalyItaly MAY ItalyItaly TAR GermanyGermany BER GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM FranceFrance TAV ItalyItaly CCA United KingdomUnited Kingdom RTT GermanyGermany ONLY United StatesUnited States BRI United StatesUnited States BRI FranceFrance PAR
9 DNF
1970 Solar Productions Inc. Porsche 908 United StatesUnited States DAY United StatesUnited States SEB United KingdomUnited Kingdom BRH ItalyItaly MON ItalyItaly TAR BelgiumBelgium SPA GermanyGermany ONLY FranceFrance LEM United StatesUnited States WAT AustriaAustria ZEL
2

literature

  • Yann-Brice Dherbier (Ed.): Steve McQueen. Pictures of a life. Henschel, Leipzig 2008, ISBN 978-3-89487-604-3 .
  • John Dominis : Steve McQueen: Photographs by John Dominis. Munich, Schirmer Mosel, 2009, 1st edition, ISBN 978-382960-412-3
  • New publication of the book Behind the Scenes-Gebengte Ketten-The Great Escape, photographs by the cameraman Walter Riml ( online )
  • Greg Laurie (with Marshall Terrill): Steve McQueen. The secret life of faith of the King of Cool Fontis - Brunnen, Basel 2018, ISBN 978-3-03848-136-2
  • Barbara Minty McQueen (with Marshall Terrill): Steve McQueen: The Last Mile ... revisited Verlag Dalton Watson, Deerfield 2012, expanded edition, ISBN 978-1-85443-255-1 (English, with many photographs by Barbara and Steve McQueen )
  • Christopher Sandford : McQueen: The Biography. HarperCollins, London 2002, ISBN 978-0-00-653229-3 .

Web links

Commons : Steve McQueen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ There are different spellings of the name. Steve McQueen himself had the American Embassy in London deliberately issued a passport for the (misspelled) name "Terrence Stephen McQueen", a variant circulating in the press at the time. His wife Neile McQueen Toffel calls him "Steven Terrence McQueen" in her book My Husband, My Friend (New York, Atheneum, 1986). His father signed as “Wm. Terence McQueen ”.
  2. ↑ "Six Days" -Motocross race in the GDR - Who was there? for one day , accessed on July 28, 2010
  3. ↑ Jochen Vorfelder: Alter Ego of the King of Cool: On the death of stunt driver Bud Etkins. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. October 10, 2007, accessed July 21, 2009 .
  4. ↑ knerger.de
  5. ↑ Ford Puma commercial on YouTube
  6. ↑ Sheryl Crowe: Steve McQuen on YouTube
  7. ^ Wil Haygood: The Hug In: The Washington Post, September 14, 2003
personal data
SURNAME McQueen, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McQueen, Terrence Steven (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Beech Grove , Marion County , Indiana , United States
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 1980
Place of death Ciudad Juarez , Mexico