1001 Steve McQueen Facts. Tyler Greenblatt

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      76. About the only thing that Steve and Richard did accomplish on their mission to Las Angeles was earning the notoriety of being kicked out of the famous hotel Chateau Marmont for skinny-dipping with a couple of actresses. This story spread throughout the acting community back in New York, and when they returned, the job offers began to roll in.

      77. While on the set of Two Fingers of Pride, Steve had affairs with two female castmates: Peggy Feury and Olga Bellin. Each filled a different void that he needed in his life. His relationship with Feury was largely based on attraction while Bellin provided more on the emotional support side of things.

      78. While living in The Village as a carefree, rebellious youth on a motorcycle, Steve’s nickname in the neighborhood was “Bandido.” In her memoir, wife Niele recalls being referred to as “Bandido’s Girl” when they first started dating.

      79. Critical and audience reviews of his performances never seemed to bother Steve while he was doing stage work, who understood that he was still a student actor. The one reviewer who did intimidate and frighten him was his very own teacher, Lee Strasberg!

      80. Steve disliked classes and performing skits because he felt he got more out of live performances for patrons. Of being reviewed by Strasberg in class, Steve once said, “I would rather take my chances with the paying public.” By his reasoning, at least he was getting paid!

MOVIE FACTS

      81. When the Broadway production of Time Out For Ginger moved to Chicago in 1954, producers cast Steve as Eddie Davis. McQueen starred alongside several of the original cast members, including Melvyn Douglas, Nancy Malone, and Philip Loeb. The play focused on a girl, Ginger, who wanted to try out for her school’s football team and the blowback that affected her supportive father. Steve would have been fired outright from the production if not for his agent, Peter Witt, stepping in and convincing Douglas and director Shepard Traube to let him resign. Getting fired from his first paying job would have had damning effects on his career.

      82. McQueen’s first known performance was in the play Molly Picon, which was put on by a Jewish company in New York in 1952. His one line in the play was: “Allez iz forloren,” which is Yiddish for “All is lost.” This role earned him $40 a week. McQueen said that he got the part thanks to his roommate’s sister who was an actress and talked the producers into hiring him. He was fired after four performances, which he jokingly blamed on his “lousy Yiddish.”

      83. In the summer of 1952, McQueen dusted himself off and got back on the stage, this time at the Country Playhouse in East Rochester, New York, for the week-long production of Peg O’ My Heart. The play required him to use an English accent; however, he was so nervous that he forgot some of his lines on the show’s opening night.

      84. A cast mate approached him after the show and said, “I want you to know that your performance was just embarrassing.” McQueen recalled feeling like the wind was taken out of his sails. After that, he contemplated getting out of acting altogether.

      85. Steve’s first on-screen performance was in a 1952 TV short called Family Affair. The 27-minute film was originally intended for AT&T employees and select public groups to show the necessity of having multiple phones in a modern household. McQueen, credited as Stephen McQueen, plays a goofy sailor named Freddy. While on leave, he plans to propose to his girlfriend, but in order to connect with her he must use the household’s additional phone. McQueen has four scenes, in all of which he wears a Navy uniform.

      86. McQueen’s second on-screen performance came in the form of an uncredited extra in the 1953 film Girl On The Run. The film is a murder mystery in which police investigate a murder in a burlesque theater. Although he has no lines, he can be spotted in the background in two scenes. The one-hour and four-minute film was his first involvement in a feature production.

      87. Steve’s credited TV debut came in the 1955 Goodyear Playhouse production of The Chivington Raid. The one-hour live to TV broadcast was based on the true story behind the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. Colonel Chivington led his 675-man Colorado Volunteer Cavalry in an attack in Cheyenne and Arapaho territory to kill an estimated 70 to 163 men, women, and children as revenge for the suspected killing of two white men.

      88. In the summer of 1955, the play Two Fingers of Pride was presented at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine with the intention of moving to Broadway. Steve was the only unproven actor among a well-known cast, and he played the second lead of Nino alongside Garry Merrill, who played the lead. The play was about corruption on the New York City docks, a dark theme that McQueen could play well. The writer, Jim Longhi, said of his performance, “This original, primitive, self-taught kid gets up onstage every night with these terrific pros and wins the race.”

      89. Upon his discharge from the service in April 1950, Steve headed back to Myrtle Beach to rejoin his former flame Sue Ann. She had numerous well-connected, wealthy friends and the pair often attended fancy dinner and dance parties. It was a world he had never known, and by all accounts he enjoyed it, if only because he knew every next meal was coming and he’d have plenty of time to lounge around.

      90. Sue Ann’s wealthy father approached Steve one day with a promising job offer and a life free from want if he would marry Sue Ann. Steve was so shocked that he left town immediately and never saw Sue Ann again. Bad for Sue Ann, good for Steve McQueen fans.

      91. After leaving Myrtle Beach, McQueen worked his way back to New York City where his mother arranged for him to rent a room for $19 a month. His roommate was photographer and playwright Gene Lesser who went on to write several successful plays and films.

      92. In typical cool, casual Steve McQueen style, he often credits his early interest in acting to a part-time actress he dated named Donna Barton, who was also a dancer at the Copacabana nightclub. She paid for the meal on their first date, and Steve moved in to her apartment the next day. She was taking classes at The Neighborhood Playhouse at the time and suggested that Steve should try it.

      93. In all likelihood, Steve’s mother’s boyfriend Viktor Lukens played an even bigger role in his introduction to acting. Viktor was the one who introduced him to Sanford Meisner, who was on the faculty of The Neighborhood Playhouse.

      94. Until he applied to The Neighborhood Playhouse on June 25, 1951, McQueen was still introducing himself as Steve Berri. Viktor Lukens was the one who told him to go by Steve McQueen, as he considered it to be a great name for an actor.

      95. Further evidence that Viktor Lukens was the primary driving force behind McQueen’s acting career was that Steve listed Lukens’ 19 Barrow Street address on his application in addition to listing him as a professional reference. Lukens also paid for Steve’s application fee and the first year of classes.

      96. McQueen officially started acting school at The Neighborhood Playhouse in August 1951. Among the required list of items was a leotard and a set of ballet slippers. That doesn’t exactly paint an image of the Steve McQueen we know, and according to his old instructor, Steve often complained about the attire. That is until she grabbed him by the groin and lifted him off the floor to teach him how to stand up straight.

      97. In an informal poll conducted by fellow actors, Steve McQueen placed dead last as to who would be most likely to succeed.

      98. Although not technically a paid production, McQueen’s first real play was The Neighborhood Playhouse’s year-end showcase entitled Truckline Café, which was originally a Marlon Brando production. Naturally, Steve played the Brando role and did so to perfection.

      99. His performance was noticed by agent Peter Witt, who approached Steve after the СКАЧАТЬ