Happy Steve McQueen Day

Steve McQueen, "The King of Cool," would have been 84 years old today. He died at only 50 years old, a victim of mesothelioma. Though he left us too soon, his influence survives in our appreciation for counter-culture anti-heroes.

“If I hadn’t made it as an actor, I might have wound up a hood.” --Steve McQueen 

Wikipedia says: 

Terence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American actor. Called "The King of Cool", his "anti-hero" persona, developed at the height of the Vietnam War-era counterculture, made him a top box-office draw of the 1960s and 1970s. 

Born: March 24, 1930, Beech Grove, IN 

Died: November 7, 1980, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

Personal remembrances

• Watching The Great Escape (1963). I first encountered Steve McQueen on TV about 10 years after The Great Escape came out in theaters. I was about 13 at the time, and seriously into bicycling and escapes, and adventure-filled escapes on bicycles.
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• Reading Papillon (Published 1969, English 1970, movie version starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman 1973). I read the novel in the early '70s because I was too young to get in to an R-rated movie at the time. But I was aware of the movie version starring the guy from the Escape movie. 
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Add the Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and now we all have a great reason to re-watch three classic movies!

Unfortunately, I first heard of the Thomas Crown Affair when it was remade (1999) with Pierce Brosnan in the leading role. The original and best (1968) starred Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway

Web references

• "Official" website
• IMDb website
• Previous PhilosFX post: Me and Steve McQueen