Читать книгу 1001 Steve McQueen Facts - Tyler Greenblatt - Страница 12
ОглавлениеPERSONAL LIFE
144. Steve McQueen first met Neile Adams in May 1956 at Jim Downey’s Steakhouse in New York City. After a second meeting at the restaruant, he stopped by her show on Broadway and then asked her out. Rather than the typical date she was expecting, Steve showed up on his motorcycle to take her to Greenwich Village. Because she was wearing a dress, Neile rode sidesaddle as Steve sped along.
145. He later pawned the watch that his uncle had given him to buy an airline ticket to Los Angeles to ask Neile to marry him. The pawnbroker told him, “They don’t make watches like this anymore,” to which Steve responded, “They don’t make men like the man who gave it to me.”
146. Steve proposed to Neile Adams in October 1956, putting a $25 down payment on the ring and having Neile pay off the balance over the next two years. Neile was as surprised as she was confused, since she had left for California and Steve had refused to come along just a few weeks earlier.
147. Steve and Neile were married on November 2, 1956, at a Lutheran church in San Clemente, California. The original plan was to drive to Mission San Juan Capistrano in a rented Ford Thunderbird. When Steve stopped to call the mission on the way, the nun informed him that they only marry members of their parish.
148. After that, they were pulled over for speeding at 11:30 p.m. in San Clemente. Steve told the state troopers that he and Neile had to get married that weekend, so the troopers called the local pastor who married them that night. The state troopers acted as witnesses for the ceremony.
149. Steve’s uncle Claude, who helped raise him as a boy, died on November 28, 1957. Although Steve didn’t attend the funeral, he was lucky enough to spend some time with his uncle earlier that year when he took Neile to Slater, Missouri. Neile gained some important insight into Steve’s upbringing, and had her one opportunity to meet Uncle Claude. After that trip in January 1957, Steve never returned to Slater again.
150. After a particularly bad fight between Steve and Neile, and the subsequent makeup, Neile gave Steve a St. Christopher medal. She had it inscribed “To part is to die a little.” He rarely took it off over the years and it even made appearances in several films. He later commented about the gift, “She knew I felt like a gigolo, and she thought this might help. He only stopped wearing it after they divorced. Le Mans was one of the final movies in which the medal made an appearance.
151. Steve always dreamed of someday finding his father, William, who had abandoned him so early on. He finally tracked him down in February 1959. With Neile by his side, they went to his apartment in Long Beach, California, just a short drive away from where they lived. They were greeted by the landlady, who informed them that William had passed away three months earlier on November 11. She told Steve that for the last few months of his life, he spent every Saturday night in front of the television watching Wanted Dead or Alive, and wondering out loud if that was his son on the screen.
152. The only things Steve’s father left him was a picture of himself and a Zippo lighter engraved “T.McQ.” Steve told his friend Bud Ekins that he had tossed the lighter into some weeds after receiving it, but in truth, he kept it. No one knew that he had retained the only link he had to his father until he died, and his daughter, Terry, discovered it in his jewelry box. Of course, the T on the lighter stood for Terrence, so it’s fitting that William’s granddaughter, Terry, was the one to find it after so much time had passed.
153. Steve and Neile had their first child, a girl, on June 5, 1959. Terry Leslie McQueen was named after her father, whose real name was Terrence Steven McQueen, and by default her grandfather, William Terrence McQueen. Although Steve quickly fell in love with his newborn daughter, he didn’t hold back in admitting that he had really wanted a boy. “I was a little hacked when the old lady bore me a daughter, but this kid is really gonna be a gas,” he said. “I wanted a boy, but now I want another girl.”
154. After he decided that he wanted another girl, the universe blessed Steve and Neile with a son on December 28, 1960, whom they named Chadwick Steven McQueen. According to Neile, “When the children were little, when they were first born, he really couldn’t relate to them yet. He just sort of dissed them until they were able to become little persons. As soon as their personalities started evolving, then Steve could relate to them as children. He was wonderful with the children and he was wonderful with children in general because he saw the world through the eyes of a child. Consequently, it was always playtime when they were together.”
155. In 1960, with his payday from The Magnificent Seven, Steve and Neile purchased a home at 2419 Solar Drive for $60,000. The Hollywood Hills estate overlooks downtown Los Angeles, and is situated near popular Runyon Canyon Park. With the move also came a name-change of McQueen’s production company to Solar Productions from Scuderia Condor Enterprises. His company remained with this name from then on.
156. Before the filming of Wanted Dead or Alive, Steve spent many hours over the course of a few weeks practicing with firearms to develop his draw. However, because the gun used in the show was an actual, working firearm, he had to get a special permit to remove it from the studio.
157. It was extremely important to Steve that he was able to draw and handle the gun properly, just as his character, Josh Randall, would have. At the time, he claimed to be the fourth fastest gunman in California. He said, “I can put a book of matches on the back of my hand, drop it from waist level, draw, and fire two shots into it before it hits the ground.”
158. Steve and Neile were invited to participate in Bob Hope’s annual Christmas show entertaining soldiers stationed in Alaska. Although filmed primarily in Colorado, Steve still had to request leave from the filming of Wanted to be on the show. CBS encouraged him to do the show, even though it would be stuck paying even more overtime for the crew of Wanted. Steve’s appearance not only brought even more public attention to his television show, but promoted Never So Few, which opened just a few weeks later. His successful appearance led to numerous other guest spots to promote his projects.
159. McQueen and co-star Yul Brynner may have bumped some serious heads while filming The Magnificent Seven, but that didn’t stop Dorris and Yul Brynner from sending the McQueen family a telegram on New Year’s Eve that read, “Happy New Year happy new baby.”
160. The first strike in Screen Actors Guild history began on March 7, 1960, and nearly destroyed the possibility of making The Magnificent Seven. Everyone in Hollywood was under a mad rush to have contracts signed and projects initiated before that date to avoid being caught up in the strike. This worked out to McQueen’s benefit on Wanted, where he was contractually given permission to make The Magnificent Seven in addition to a doubled salary.
161. The Screen Actors Guild strike almost lost The Magnificent Seven, the movie Steve had fought so hard for, since director John Sturges didn’t complete casting until the day before production began and a week before the strike began.
162. Because .44-40-caliber rounds didn’t look that big sitting in Randall’s cartridge belt, .45-70-caliber rounds were used for a more striking visual effect. Since the large firearm required its own unique draw style, Steve turned to actor/singer Sammy Davis, Jr., whom he knew from his time in New York. Davis was a serious Old West pistol enthusiast and reportedly practiced his draw technique for hours a day. He helped McQueen develop Josh Randall’s characteristic draw.
163. Folks all over the country tuned in to watch CBS’s Wanted Dead or Alive to see Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall. Among them was a five-year-old girl named Barbara Minty who sneaked out of bed on Saturday nights to secretly watch without her grandparents’ knowledge. About 20 years later, Barbara and Steve met, fell in love, and married. When they actually did meet, McQueen was fresh off his portrayal of Dr. Thomas Stockman in An Enemy of the People and she didn’t realize until well after the meeting that Josh Randall and Steve McQueen were the same person!
164. It’s no shock that Steve used trickery to convince store owners that he was returning an item for cash while he was scrounging his way around New York City in his teens and early 20s. But can you imagine that he pulled the same trick on the night of his daughter’s birth in 1959. He had already hit it big financially with Wanted, but he never gave up the habit of not carrying any cash. Needing something to toast his first-born’s birth, he walked into a wine store, picked up a bottle, and simply asked if he could exchange it for another one. The clerk obliged the TV star’s request and Steve walked out with a free bottle of wine!
165. Even though Steve McQueen’s relationship with his mother was strained at best, Neile’s introduction into their lives helped ease the tension and provide them both with an outlet of communication. Steve always kept his mother at arm’s length, but with her fondness for Neile it’s no surprise that Steve told her about his plan to propose before anybody else.
166. Ever since he was a boy growing up on Uncle Claude’s farm, Steve McQueen loved animals and was always determined to someday have a dog of his own. On his 27th birthday he made that dream a reality when he stopped in a pet store and purchased a German Shepard puppy named Thor. It was his first dog and since they were all living in a tiny New York City apartment at the time, Steve, Neile, and Thor all slept on the floor together. After Thor, Steve always had a dog by his side.
167. Steve had hearing problems stemming from a double mastoidectomy when he was a young boy and a scuba diving accident when he was 20 years old. He often raised his hand to his ear to show that he was hard of hearing.
168. However, being a street-smart guy, he eventually learned that the signal of cupping his ear, and public knowledge of his hearing issues, could be used to his advantage. If a journalist asked a question he wasn’t prepared for, he could simply cup his hand around his ear and think about a response as the journalist repeated himself. He would also use the motion if he were bored in a conversation in the hope that the other person would grow weary of repeating themselves and give up the line of conversation. Chalk this one up as another one of Steve’s signature tricks!
169. When McQueen first started as Josh Randall on Wanted Dead or Alive, he had access to his first press agent who’s responsibility was promoting the show and in turn, him. In addition to the show’s publicist, Steve also hired his own publicist for the purpose of separating him from the show. Wanted’s publicist wanted to promote Steve McQueen as Josh Randall, but Steve’s own publicist worked to separate him from Josh Randall and show him as a multifaceted actor. The investment in building his brand paid off as Steve’s reputation continued to grow.
170. In 1960, after shooting Never So Few, Steve returned to Louis’ Tavern to see Sal. He brought Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford with him, surely making all those free meals worth the effort and giving his old friend a lifelong memory.
MOVIE FACTS
171. Steve McQueen made his Broadway debut in 1956 in A Hatful of Rain. His character, Johnny Pope, was originally written as being Latino, which McQueen was not. Because of his noticeably European features, stage manager Ed Julian nicknamed him “Cornflakes.” Although his performance was good, the actresses who played his wife, Vivian Blain followed by Kim Hunter, looked much older than he did. Critics suggested that they appeared old enough to be his mother.
172. While working on Wanted Dead or Alive, McQueen filmed three television ads for Viceroy Cigarettes. The commercials took place on set, with McQueen in costume but playing himself. His commercial catchphrase was: “Viceroy is the cigarette with the thinking man’s filter, and the smokin’ man’s taste.” The commercials began airing in 1958.
173. Steve’s first feature film was Somebody Up There Likes Me, which came out in 1956. The film is about the early life of boxer Rocky Graziano, played by Paul Newman, from his childhood until he won the World Middleweight Championship in 1947 at 28 years of age. McQueen’s uncredited performance as Fidel was limited to only a short scene, of which his wife, Neile, thought he was terrible in the part. At least he was paid $19 a day for his work!
174 Interestingly, the lead role was originally meant for another famous gearhead, James Dean, but he was killed just weeks before filming was set to start.
175. McQueen’s first credited feature film was Never Love a Stranger, which came out in 1958. He played the role of Martin Cabell, a Jewish district attorney, in a film where the other primary characters are also Jewish. His first credited film sure sounds a lot like his first role back in New York in 1952! The low-budget film was a flop, and Steve failed at playing the upstanding, good-guy gentleman.
176. In 1957, Steve acted in a two-part television series called The Defender, which was part of CBS’s Studio One series. The first part aired on February 25 and the second part on March 4, both of which received critical appraise for several actors, including Steve. CBS Executive Herbert Brodkin even wrote Steve a letter on March 5 thanking him for his fine work on the program.
177 While working on Thanks to his role on The Defender, Steve received his first bit of fan mail. Not only did he get his first letter, the CBS studio also fielded several calls from people saying they were “fans of Steve McQueen.”
178. Steve McQueen, billed as “Steven” for the last time, earned the lead role in The Blob after impressing the directors with his work on The Defender. Unfortunately, at 27 years old, they thought he was too old to play a high school student. He ran into one of the directors in New York and convinced him that he could play the role after reading a few lines from the script.
179. From his very first day on set, Steve made his presence known by throwing firecrackers at the crew and riding his motorcycle around. He insisted that he needed a bigger dressing room than the other actors and oftentimes brought his dog to the set. Because the crew of The Blob was so religious, they held daily prayer meetings where they prayed for a variety of things on the movie to go well. Every meeting concluded with one final prayer for the day: “God save us from Steve McQueen!”
180. There’s a popular rumor that McQueen was initially offered $2,500 or 10 percent of the profit for his work on The Blob. It makes for a funny story, but it’s false. He was paid $3,000 for his work and the option to appear in the studio’s two next films.
181. At the time, The Blob was made for only $130,000 and wasn’t expected to do all that well. It ended up shocking everyone and went on to become a symbol of 1950s popular culture. That first year, The Blob brought in a $6 million profit and is estimated to have grossed more than $40 million over the years.
182. One of the first people outside of the production staff to see The Blob was Dick Powell, head of Four Star Studios, who asked to see a rough cut of the film. The purpose of his viewing was to look at Steve McQueen and potentially cast him in an upcoming television show. Jack Harris, even with all that the crew went through on set with McQueen, gave his recommendation. The show Powell went on to produce? Wanted Dead or Alive.
183. Steve fired his horse on his first day of work on Wanted Dead or Alive. He was initially supplied with an older horse that he claimed had to be put on roller skates so it could get around the sound stage.
184. He asked Dick Powell if he could pick out his own horse, saying, “We’re going to be doing this series for a while; I’d kind of like a horse I got something with, you know?” He decided on a black one named Ringo who bucked him off during his first ride. Ringo bit all the other horses in his first week on set and destroyed several pieces of equipment.
185. McQueen also insisted on picking his own gun for his character of Josh Randall to use in Wanted Dead or Alive. The cut-down .44-40 Winchester Model 1892 rifle that he used was created by his friend, artist Von Dutch. Where a sawed-off shotgun is often referred to as a “hog’s leg,” Steve wanted his creation to instill fear without being “mean.” The name “Mare’s Leg” was chosen for the thigh-mounted rifle.
186. By the time filming on Never So Few had wrapped, Steve had so much practice handling firearms that he challenged the industry’s best, Sammy Davis, Jr., to a draw-and-shoot contest. The prize was a nickel-plated memorial Colt .45, otherwise known as the Peacemaker, plus a few side bets Steve took that were all going for Davis. McQueen ended up beating Davis, taking the show gun and some cash, but most importantly, the respect.
187. Steve McQueen’s method acting style meant that his characters and actions were based on some level of real-life experience or emotion. His character of Josh Randall in Wanted Dead or Alive was based on a cop he knew when he was a kid in New York. “There was no monkey business with him,” he said. “When he said he’d shoot, he meant it. Well, I think of him, and pretty soon I’m Josh Randall.”
188. The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept tabs on many Hollywood actors and businesspeople during J. Edgar Hoover’s term as director. The FBI created its first dossier on Steve McQueen with the airing of Wanted Dead or Alive, giving it the classification of a “Gangster Glorification Movie.” McQueen remained on the FBI’s radar in this manner until his death.
189. In 1960, Steve and Neile starred in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Man from the South.” The grisly tale features Steve as a gambler and Neile as a woman he meets in a bar and wants to leave town with, except they’re both broke. He takes a strange bet with an older man that if he can light his lighter ten times in a row, he’ll give him his new convertible. If he fails, the man gets to chop off his pinky finger. The episode was so macabre in fact, that CBS postponed the original January 1, 1960, air date to January 3 so it wasn’t so close to the holiday season.
190. Steve and Dick Powell had made a verbal agreement that if a movie opportunity came along for Steve, every possible option would be exhausted to make the scheduling work. For someone like Steve, who grew bored easily and had a burning desire to be a film star, an arrangement like this was extremely important. It actually paid off after the first season of Wanted.
191. Originally, Sammy Davis, Jr., was cast for the role of Corporal Bill Ringa in Never So Few after Frank Sinatra went to bat for him. Regular casting of people of color in Hollywood was very uncommon at the time, and Sammy’s $75,000 payday made a big splash in the industry. What also made a big splash was when Sammy criticized Sinatra’s manners in a radio interview. Just like that, he was out, and a replacement was needed.
192. Director John Sturges’ wife, Dorothy, was a fan of Steve McQueen on Wanted Dead or Alive, and thought his style would fit the role perfectly. Her husband agreed, and McQueen was cast with a $25,000 salary. An internal telegram announcing the switch to key people read, “Chicago replaced by Detroit.”
193. Early in filming of Never So Few, Frank Sinatra snuck a firecracker into McQueen’s belt loop while he was reading a script. The firecracker went off, sending Steve jumping backward and causing Sinatra to laugh. Never one to be outdone, Steve grabbed a nearby Tommy gun, loaded it with a magazine full of blanks, and fired right back at an unexpecting Sinatra, who jumped quite a few feet himself. He earned Sinatra’s respect with that comeback, and throughout filming they played similar pranks on each other, such as tossing surprise firecrackers at each other or playing with the production’s pyrotechnics equipment.
194. Never So Few was a critical disappointment considering the hype and star cast. This proved to be a blessing in disguise for McQueen, who delivered a stand-out performance and received numerous positive comments. Several reviews even suggested that he would go on to become a major star, although it’s unlikely they guessed how quickly that would happen. Sinatra was also impressed with Steve’s performance, and invited him to do more films together.
195. Although working with Frank Sinatra seemed like a huge opportunity at the time, and would have likely earned Steve a lot of money, it would have hurt his own star power. In addition to supporting Sinatra in two upcoming films, Steve McQueen would also have had to put on a nightclub act doing comedy impressions. Being a part of the famed Rat Pack would be a dream-come-true for many actors and singers, but it would also mean constantly playing second fiddle to someone else.
196. As part of McQueen’s publicity duties for Wanted Dead or Alive, he had to visit state fairs, festivals, and rodeos to promote the show. His first event was at a rodeo in a small town in Texas. He had no idea what to do so he rode out on his horse and had his manager, Hilly Elkins, throw a coin for him to shoot with the Mare’s Leg sawed-off rifle. After he fired, they quickly exited the arena, got in their car, and drove off. Neither had any idea as to whether or not Steve actually hit the coin.
197. Steve’s antics on the set of Wanted are rumored to have led recovering alcoholic director George Blair to start drinking again. Oftentimes, during 15-minute breaks, he went for a ride on his motorcycle for 30 minutes, costing money and causing headaches. When Blair approached him about it, McQueen responded, “Hey, I’m enjoying my bike better than a little TV show!”
198. When the opportunity came up for Steve to play a role in a new western called The Magnificent Seven for $65,000, he once again turned to his Wanted contract and that little verbal agreement. This time, however, the shooting dates coincided and the studio refused to release Steve to film the movie. Manager Hilly Elkins knew that nothing could stop Steve from doing the film, so he gave him instructions on how to get out of the TV show. He told him to have an accident convincing enough to feign an injury, but not so bad that he would be seriously hurt.
199. Naturally, Steve McQueen pushed the limit and drove a rented Cadillac, with Neile in the car, into the side of a bank in Hartford, Connecticut. He returned to Los Angeles in a neck brace. The accident angered Four Star Studios, which right away assumed that it was done on purpose. However, it showed the lengths that McQueen was willing to go, so they agreed to let him do the movie before he actually got himself hurt or simply never returned to the set. Hilly Elkins also pushed for a pay raise to $150,000 a year, twice Steve’s current salary, and got it.
200. Much of the onscreen tension in The Magnificent Seven is largely due to the offscreen tension between the actors while filming in Mexico. Yul Brynner and Horst Buchholz, the big names, were put up in beautiful private homes and were fully catered to. The rest were put up in a local motel called Posadas Jacarandas. Steve McQueen hung out with friend Charles Bronson, whom he had worked with on Never So Few, while Robert Vaughn and James Coburn stuck together.
201. While filming The Magnificent Seven, McQueen leaked information to the press about a supposed feud between him and Yul Brynner. It really wasn’t so much a feud as McQueen trying to outdo his lead co-star while Brynner attempted to ignore him. The article infuriated Brynner as it positioned him and McQueen as equals, rather than star and supporting actor, as he saw it. He told McQueen, “I’m an established star, and I don’t feud with supporting actors,” after he told him to retract the story.
202. Even with a supposed feud going on between them, Steve still offered to help Yul Brynner with drawing his revolver. Rather than teach him a fancy move like what he did on screen, Steve taught him a rudimentary move that lacked any character. Once again, Steve McQueen was able to outshine the movie’s “star” in the eyes of the viewers. Years later, after McQueen discovered he had mesothelioma, he made amends with Brynner by thanking him for not firing him from the movie that ended up jumpstarting his career.
203. Even after The Blob had been released, Steve McQueen was still a virtual nobody in the film world and actually preferred acting on stage to film where he felt more artistically satisfied. When he received a $400 offer for three days of work to play Bill Longley in a guest appearance of Tales of Wells Fargo, he took it, citing the money as his only motivation. He hated acting in the Western, and decried it to be “the last of these cockamamie cowboy shows for me.”
204. While Steve was looking for work in the late 1950s, before his big break on Wanted Dead or Alive, he often went to the studio casting office and waited on line with the other actors hoping that he might be perfect for even the smallest part. As always, he figured out how to get a jump on the competition, although there’s no evidence whether it worked. When he finally got to the front of the line (and like everyone else), he handed the receptionist his picture and resume. Except rather than leave after being turned away, he went straight to the back of the line. He was turned away several times throughout the day, but the idea was to eventually fool the receptionists into not only recognizing him, but thinking that they recognized him from television appearances.
205. New York City has long been known as one of the toughest places when it comes to gun laws. McQueen found this out first-hand when he flew into La Guardia Airport with Josh Randall’s Mare’s Laig sawed-off rifle in his luggage. He was detained by airport police immediately and simply informed them, “Where the gun goes, I go.” In response, police took both him and the rifle to the station where he sat until a captain let him go.
206. Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O’Brien, quickly became one of the most popular shows on television, and before Steve got his big break playing Josh Randall, he felt there was a good chance of getting a part on O’Brien’s show. Hugh O’Brien was known as the fastest draw in Hollywood and if McQueen ever got his chance to go head to head, he wanted to be ready. He practiced and practiced but unfortunately never had the opportunity to face off against O’Brien before Wanted Dead or Alive came about.
207. Before he was finally cast in Wanted, or even had an agent for that matter, Steve hung around his wife’s sets trying to get her to spend time with him. He also had a knack for using her money to buy cars and go out with friends to fill his days. Neile eventually had enough of this and begged her team to take him on and find him work. She had everyone on board including manager Hilly Elkins, agent Stan Kamen at the William Morris Agency, and publicist David Foster. They weren’t enthused about taking on Steve McQueen, but if it kept their client on the rise and happy, they would do it. Elkins was eventually the one who came through with a pilot called Trackdown that morphed into Wanted.
208. To secure the part of the murderer on The Defender, a TV show starring William Shatner, Neile suggested that Steve go all out and pitch his case to the director, the producer, and the writer. Although the director held all the casting cards, she knew that he would be open to suggestions from the show’s other important leaders. On his call-back, Steve did just that and whether it was his enthusiasm, skill, or just dumb luck, he got the role that thrust him into the limelight.
209. A far cry from what he would be making by his third season, McQueen’s starting salary on Wanted Dead or Alive was $750 per episode. With 28 episodes having been ordered by the network right off the bat, Steve stood to make $21,000 that first season. He was still making half of what his wife made, but of course, the extra income went toward his 1958 Porsche Speedster.
210. Steve McQueen once got called out by a director in front of the entire crew for having to use the bathroom before a take on Wanted. In the director’s defense, Steve was sitting around for 30 minutes while the crew set up the scene, and only when the scene was completely ready did Steve decide that he had to use the restroom. The director announced in a booming voice, “Everybody take five while Mr. McQueen takes a pee!” Not surprisingly, that particular director was paid the remainder of his contract and sent packing from the show.
211. The famous TV show M*A*S*H aired from 1972 to 1983 and was set in Korea during the Korean War. In one episode, The Blob is seen playing on a television set, undoubtedly a pop-culture reference to the 1950s. The only problem is that the Korean War ended in 1953 and The Blob wasn’t even filmed until 1958!
212. Frank Sinatra took such a liking to Steve McQueen while filming Never So Few that he often instructed director John Sturges to focus on Steve instead of himself. He told Sturges that McQueen had “something that the kids will go for” and told him he didn’t mind if he wanted to focus on the young up-and-comer for a particular scene. This was an especially big deal because on every other one of Frank Sinatra’s pictures, he had to be the focus and the center of attention. Other actors wouldn’t dare try to steal a scene away from him.
213. In 1959 Steve appeared as a guest panelist on the show Juke-Box Jury. A panel of judges listened to new popular music and then discussed their opinions of what they heard. While on the show, Steve said, “I went to two singing teachers and they both gave me my money back and they said, ‘Go on outta here.’ Ya know … I just gave up right then and there.”
214. One of the skits McQueen performed on Bob Hope’s 1959 Christmas USO tour was called “Operation: Eggroll” in which he and Hope played a couple of Japanese soldiers about to be captured by US forces. The special aired on January 13, 1960.
215. Steve was paid $7,500 to appear on Kraft Music Hall, otherwise known as The Perry Como Show, in 1960. He began a dance number that took place in an Old West saloon with him playing the town’s sheriff. When it came time to do the actual dance, he just mouthed a couple of words, looked as if he would take a step, and then the number ended without him singing or dancing at all.
216. Steve appeared on the game show It Could Be You hosted by Bill Leyden in 1960 to promote Wanted Dead or Alive. As part of his skit, two women from the audience were invited to stand on stage. Leyden then told an embarrassing story about one of the women and Steve had to guess which one it was. The idea was to see if he possessed any of the traits that a real bounty hunter would have. McQueen easily identified the correct woman by how much she blushed at the relaying of her story.
217. Not many people know that it was actually Yul Brenner’s son, Rock, who suggested Steve McQueen for the role of Vin alongside his dad in The Magnificent Seven. Like many kids, he was a fan of McQueen’s from Wanted Dead or Alive. Brenner then watched an episode of the show and agreed with his son.
218. Can you believe that the actual blob used in the movie is still in existence and has never dried out? It’s even still in the original pail used for transportation for the movie. It has made appearances at the annual Blobfest in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
219. McQueen’s character of Vin Tanner in The Magnificent Seven never once made mention of being married in the film. Yet, he can be seen wearing a wedding ring throughout the entire movie, which you might guess was Steve’s actual ring.
220. Steve disliked his movie The Honeymoon Machine so much that he walked out of the first public preview screening. He had yet to perfect his on-screen persona when he took on the role of Lt. Ferguson ‘Fergie’ Howard in 1961 and was uncomfortable watching himself in that role.
221. McQueen was a cast member in a 1957 episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour called “Deep Water.” The plot was based on an actual event during World War II in which a team of high-strung Navy Frogmen (now known as the elite Navy SEALS) who didn’t get along with each other were sent on a mission. McQueen played the role of Kinsella.
222. Steve McQueen appeared in a 1958 episode of Climax! called “Four Hours in White.” In the episode he actually plays two characters: identical twins Henry and Anthony Reeves who have just been in an accident. One of the twins would die unless he received a kidney transplant from the other twin, which in the 1950s was a difficult and dangerous procedure. The surgeon must decide if it is worth risking one man’s life to save the other from certain death.
223. McQueen has a solid role in a 1958 episode of Tales of Wells Fargo called “Bill Longley” in which he plays wanted outlaw Bill Longley. He joins forces with main character Jim Hardie (played by Dale Robertson) to retrieve money stolen from Wells Fargo for a $5,000 reward. Another outlaw working with them ends up stealing the reward from Hardie and the girl from Longley.
MOVIE AUTOMOBILE FACTS
224. Steve McQueen’s car in The Blob is a blue 1953 Plymouth Cranbrook convertible with a red interior. The Cranbrook was updated for the 1953 model year, which saw an updated body and a few extra ponies, bringing the six-cylinder flathead’s power from 97 to 100 hp.
225. For 1954, the Cranbrook was renamed Belvedere, making the convertible from The Blob a one-year-only item. The car’s exact whereabouts are unknown today. In case you were wondering, the car has no special abilities to completely deflect the wind away from passengers with the top down as in the scenes where Jane’s hair doesn’t move while driving.
226. While on the set of The Blob, Steve was arrested in a nearby town for reckless driving in his MG. Producer Jack Harris had to bail him out, but under the condition that he clean up his act on-and off-set.
