Steve McQueen was one of a rare breed of movie stars who did not have to act or do anything on screen in particular to engage and attract viewers.
He dominated the screen on the strength of his physical presence alone, his handsome physical look and cool charismatic personality.
His sexiness was based on understated simplicity, also manifest in his signature wearing of jeans and white t-shirts.
Yet beneath the seductive, cocksure swagger, there also was the vulnerability of a boyish man.
He projected raw self-reliance, genuine sense of danger, and above all disdain for bullshit (formal or informal).
How did it happen?
In John Sturges’ WWII melodrama, Never So Few, Sammy Davis Jr, Frank Sinatra’s pal and Rat Packer, was originally cast to play Steve McQueen’s role, but Sinatra removed him after Davis made some critical comments about him in a radio interview.
At the time, Steve McQueen was known for the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive and the 1958 sci-fi horror movie, The Blob.
Steve McQueen and John Sturges Collaboration
Never So Few marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with director John Sturges. It was Sturges who cast McQueen in his breakout role the following year, as second lead in the Magnificent Seven, which became a major hit, and later on, in 1963, as the motorcycle-jumping lead in The Great Escape, which catapulted McQueen to major international stardom.
Power of Stardom:
On the original US theatrical poster, only Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida were top billed. However, in the picture’s 1967 re-release, McQueen’s credit was moved in front of Peter Lawford’s and above the title, and he was featured prominently in the artwork.
Impact:
The Heurer Monaco wristwatch in “Le Mans” was rereleased in the 1990s.
Rolex named their Explorer watch after McQueen.
