1001 Steve McQueen Facts. Tyler Greenblatt

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СКАЧАТЬ 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 СКАЧАТЬ