Steve McQueen Net Worth

Steve McQueen's Quotes

• In my own mind, I'm not sure that acting is something for a grown man to be doing.
• [interview in "TV Guide"] When a horse learns to buy martinis, I'll learn to like horses.
• I don't believe in that phony hero stuff.
• If I hadn't made it as an actor, I might have wound up a hood.
• When I believe in something, I fight like hell for it.

Interesting Facts about Steve McQueen

1. Of the 2000 performers who auditioned for Lee Strasberg's exclusive Actors Studio in 1955, only two were accepted: Martin Landau and McQueen. Both men would go on to appear in just two joint ventures, Wanted: Dead or Alive: The Monster (1960) and Nevada Smith (1966).
2. In October 1997, he was ranked #30 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
3. On August 8, 1969, a week before the Woodstock Music Festival kicked off in Bethel, New York, McQueen had been invited for dinner at the Roman Polanski-Sharon Tate home in the Hollywood Hills by mutual friend and hairdresser-to the-stars Jay Sebring. An unexpected rendezvous with a mystery woman prompted him to cancel his appointment. In the wake of the Manson Family Tate-LaBianca murders at, respectively, 10050 Cielo Drive and 3301 Waverly Drive, McQueen would later learn that he was accorded the kind of priority billing for which he was unprepared--he topped Charles Manson's celebrity death list. Thereafter, he carried a concealed weapon.
4. Issued a private pilot's license by the FAA in 1979 after learning to fly in a Stearman bi-plane, which he purchased for that purpose. After his death it was sold at auction, along with his large collection of vehicles, in 1982.
5. Father of Chad McQueen and Terry McQueen.
6. Trained in Tang Soo Do with ninth-degree black belt Pat E. Johnson (not Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris as is popularly believed). His son was trained in karate by Norris. Lee trained him in Jeet Kune Do.
7. He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on June 12, 1986.
8. He was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#19) (1995).
9. Was a pallbearer at the funeral of Bruce Lee.
10. Dropped out of school in ninth grade.
11. Former stepfather of Josh Evans.
12. He proposed the idea for the drama film The Bodyguard (1992) in 1976. However, this was forgotten for 16 years until 1992, when Kevin Costner revived the idea.
13. His role in Never So Few (1959) was originally going to be played by Sammy Davis Jr.. A feud had broken out between Davis and Frank Sinatra after Davis had claimed in a radio interview that he was a greater singer than Sinatra. Sinatra demanded he be dropped from the cast, and thus McQueen received his breakthrough role.
14. Sheryl Crow made a song titled "Steve McQueen" as a tribute to him. It is featured on the album "C'mon C'mon" (2002).
15. Was originally slated to star with Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); however, due to a disagreement over the billing, he left the project. Ironically, the billing method was used several years later when he and Newman would star in The Towering Inferno (1974), the original script of which called for McQueen's character to have more lines of dialogue than Paul Newman's. McQueen insisted the script be changed so he and Newman would have the same number of lines. He reportedly believed his talent was superior to that of the other actor and wanted the critical criteria to be as equal as possible.
16. He was very interested in playing John Rambo in the adaptation of the novel "First Blood". He was actually slated to star, but did not due to his death. Sylvester Stallone got the role instead in First Blood (1982).
17. The band Drive-By Truckers have the tribute song "Steve McQueen" featured on their album "Gangstabilly" (1998).
18. Along with Martin Sheen and James Dean, is mentioned in the song "Electrolite" by R.E.M..
19. Was the first of the original film The Magnificent Seven (1960) to pass away.
20. Had appeared, helmeted and uncredited, as a motorcyclist in the B-movie Dixie Dynamite (1976), starring Warren Oates and Christopher George. Legend has it that the call went out for dirt bike riders to take part in this low-budget action adventure, and among those who turned up was McQueen. Heavily bearded and overweight, he kept a low profile (this was during his reclusive period when he was turning down multi-million-dollar offers for such films as A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Apocalypse Now (1979)), and was only noticed when he queued up to accept his day's payment, about $120. The astonished production assistant handing out the cash saw his name on a list and said, "Is that THE Steve McQueen?". McQueen's riding style (standing on his foot pedals, leaning forward, head over the handlebars) makes him immediately identifiable to bike buffs.