Before his expiry in 1980 at the age of 50 comply a conflict with pleural mesothelioma , a uncommon type of lung cancer , Steve McQueen wasconsideredone of cinema ’s greatest leading men . The thespian ’s laid - back covert persona helped films like 1963’sThe Great Escape , 1968’sBullitt , and 1972’sThe Getawaybecome unerasable parts of 20thcentury filmmaking . In honor of what would have been McQueen ’s 90th birthday March 24 , we ’re take a look at some facts fence in his life story and career .
1. Steve McQueen was sent to reform school.
Steve McQueen ’s counterculture , anti - authority onscreen comportment was n’t much of a stretch . bear in Beech Grove , Indiana on March 24 , 1930 , McQueen was a less - than - model student . His parents , William and Julian , separatedwhen McQueen was only a few month old . When he was 12 years old , McQueen reunited with his mother and relocated to Los Angeles , where the soon - to - be - superintendent star begin incline with orbit gangs who committed infractions like steal hubcaps . McQueen eventually injure up in the California Junior Boys Republic , a reform school in Chino . McQueen fled from the property a few times before a staff member admit him under his wing and eased some of his antisocial behavior . McQueen would laterreturnto the school to give inspirational talks after making it in Hollywood .
2. Steve McQueen’s military service led him into acting.
After reform schooltime , McQueen moved to New York with his mother and then engage in the Merchant Marines . In 1947 , hejoinedthe Marine Corps and get training on how to be a tank driver . He serve through 1950 , at which point he return to New York and , with the help of the G.I. Bill , enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse acting company . subsequently , he was admit to the Actors Studio under instructor Lee Strasberg , which is where his career began take off .
3. Steve McQueen was almost a member of the Rat Pack.
One of McQueen ’s first big - projection screen breaks came in the 1959 World War II filmNever So Few , co - starringFrank Francis Albert Sinatra . McQueen got the function while he was a unconstipated on the television set seriesWanted : Dead or Alivebecause Sinatra ’s friend Sammy Davis Jr.criticizedSinatra ’s boorish behaviour on a receiving set show . A vengeful Sinatra reforge him with McQueen , who afterward resisted becoming a full - mature member of the Isaac Merrit Singer ’s boozing Rat Pack societal circle because he was discourage he might never separate out from under Sinatra ’s darkness . He likely chose wisely , as major stardom was around the corner with 1963 ’s POW dramaThe Great Escape .
4. Steve McQueen partnered with Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman to open a film studio.
Echoing the 1919 organization of United Artists byCharlie Chaplin , D.W. Griffith , Douglas Fairbanks , andMary Pickford , the 1969 organisation of First Artists wasintendedto give picture star autonomy over their careers . Paul Newman , Barbra Streisand , and Sidney Poitier were among the early enlistees , with McQueen and Dustin Hoffman joining later . At First Artists , actors would forego their typically high salaries in decree to have originative control over their films . McQueen made the well - received 1972 filmThe Getawayunder this agreement , though his other film , 1978’sAn Enemy of the masses , run across him overweight and with a beard , a stark contrast to his matinee idol image . alas , the group was only loosely organize , turning out just 15 pictures over a 10 - class period before turn up in 1979 .
5. Steve McQueen once scared Bruce Lee.
McQueen andBruce Leewere friends at a time Lee was gaining popularity as the co - star ofThe Green Hornet , the mid-1960s action serial that aspired to emulate the success ofBatman . harmonise to Lee biographer Matthew Polly , Lee was enwrapped onacquiringa Porsche 911S Targa like the one owned by McQueen . But while McQueen was an devouring racing fan and skilled driver , Lee was not . To check that Lee understand the peril regard with the fast motorcar , McQueen took him out in the Santa Monica Mountains , which featured usurious drop drops , and proceeded to slide the car and do 180 - degree turns . Lee eventually wind up huddled on the flooring , screaming at McQueen to block up .
6. Steve McQueen’s pet project was a dangerous one.
Filming of 1971’sLe Manswas a precarious proposal for McQueen , who need to imbue the film — about a slipstream railway car number one wood — with his own personal love of racing . As such , McQueeninsistedon doing much of his own driving and shooting several retake of dangerous driving stunts . One stunt equipment driver , David Piper , lost part of his correct leg after an accident . McQueen even have into an accident off - television camera , roll a automobile but escaping without any serious physical hurt .
7. Steve McQueen insisted on a peculiar contract forThe Towering Inferno.
Producer Irwin Allen was sleep with for cataclysm heroic poem , none more incendiary than 1974’sThe Towering Inferno , with a plot that seems self - explanatory . When Allen levy both McQueen andPaul Newmanfor the project , McQueen ’s managementinsistedthat neither wizard receive “ top ” billing over the other . As a solution , credits for the pic on posters and other stuff have McQueen ’s name first , with Newman ’s being no higher than half a missive above McQueen ’s .
8. Steve McQueen was originally supposed to star inThe Bodyguard.
The Bodyguard , the 1992 shoot film about a secret certificate guard duty ( Kevin Costner ) protect a pop singer ( Whitney Houston ) , had been in development for year . The script was originallywrittenin 1975 for McQueen by Lawrence Kasdan , who would go on to indite 1981’sRaiders of the Lost Ark. Diana Ross was count for the part that ultimately went to Houston . McQueen was also one of thenamestalked about for the role of John Rambo in the long - gestating adaptation of David Morrell ’s 1972 novelFirst Blood .
