McQueen: The Biography

By Christopher Sandford

Book Overview

A full and frank portrait of the complex man behind the icon of cool.

Steve McQueen, one of the first 'cool' film stars, remains a cultural icon the world over. His image is used to sell everything from cars, to beer, to a range of dolls. From the Cincinnati Kid to Frank Bullitt, Tom Crown to Papillon, his roles exemplified a certain school of male charm, as well as grit and a hint of menace.

McQueen was born in 1930 into a poor Mid-western family to a highly strung mother and truant father. In and out of reform school from a young age, he was eventually made a ward of court and the resulting sense of abandonment never left him. His big break came with the TV Saga Wanted: Dead or Alive and the now cult-classic B-movie The Blob. Just two years later he was one of the leading lights of tinseltown.

Sandford goes on to chart McQueen's phenomenal Hollywood career, starring in some of the world's best-loved films, in tandem with his turbulent private life: his marriages, his bisexuality, the drink, the fast cars, casual sex and violence. As a close friend has remarked: 'You couldn't peg him. He wanted to be memorable as an actor - but in his private life you got the impression he was trying to speed up, to get into the next hour without quite living out the last one.'

As Sandford reveals, McQueen's public demeanour of studied nonchalance hid chronic self-destrutive urges which emerged in his favourite hobbies, including bare-knuckle boxing and porsche-racing, as well as several suicide attempts. His 'lost' years at the very height of his fame are illuminated with disclosures of rampant addiction, bizarre health cures, fringe religion and androgyny. McQueen died in 1980 at a 'wellness' clinic in New Mexico, having been earlier diagnosed with lung cancer . His last words were 'Lo hice' - Spanish for 'I did it'.

Sandford has spoken to a wide range of McQueen's contemporaries - Hollywood stars, friends and family - and discovered the man behind the myth, the abandoned little boy underneath the movie-god swagger.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0006532292
• ISBN13: 9780006532293
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

McQueen Bio

Good in-depth biography of one of Hollywood's most misunderstood bad boys. McQueen broke the mold on action heroes being the forerunner of most of the gendre today. His influence on such stars as Chuck Norris, Arnold, and Slyvester Stallone is undeniable. He raised the bar when it came to acting, action and salary. Always demanding more of himself as well as others.

Excellent biography about the King of Cool

McQueen: The Biography is an excellent read for fans trying to learn more about McQueen's life. One of the biggest movie stars of all time and loved by fans all over the world, this book tells everything you need to know about his life. It covers everything from his movie career, covering all 28 films he starred in, his role on Wanted: Dead or Alive, his troubled childhood, and also his struggle to survive everyday life. As a child, McQueen often had to fend for himself which impacted him greatly for the rest of his life. I highly recommend this book for someone trying to learn more about Steve McQueen. Not many people know how much money he gave to charities over the course of his career, all of it anonymously too. The book also covers all three of his marriages which tends to show the darker side of his life. As well, fans of McQueen won't be disappointed since there is plenty here about all his movies, including The Great Escape, Bullitt, The Getaway, and Papillon and all his other classics. My only problem with the book, and this is nitpicking, is Sandford's writing style. The man does not know how to use a comma, and I often found myself reading sentences repeatedly to try and figure out what he meant. Either way, this is a great buy. For an excellent biography about Steve McQueen, check out McQueen: The Biography!

an icon captured.

Chris captures the essential myth behind steve mcqueen. He writes in parallel with Jung about 'soul-image', which is one of the archetypal images. For a man this is the 'anima; for a woman, the animus. Chris shows how both sides were present in Steve, thus giving his strength and appeal. The brilliance of the book is in the view of mcqueen from the "archetypes", how he fills many of the the simple american and suave european ideals. Energies both male and female, make mcqueen larger than us. A brilliant view into a great man.