One of the first "cool" movie stars, a true icon of the Beatles generation, McQueen drew upon his own background as a reform-school graduate, ex-Marine, and drifter to craft his persona: a brooding, taciturn, fatalistic loner who relied on his own instincts and considerable physical attributes in coping with a hostile environment. After studying at New York's Actors' Studio and making a successful Broadway debut in "A Hatful of Rain," McQueen broke into films with a bit part in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). He first played a lead in The Blob (1958), earnestly enacting his role in this cult favorite as though it had been written by Shakespeare. That same year he created the character of bounty hunter Josh Randall in the TV series "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958-60), which further boosted his popularity.

McQueen played one of the hired gunfighters in The Magnificent Seven (1960), and appeared in The Honeymoon Machine (1961), Hell Is for Heroes and The War Lover (both 1962) before making a strong impression on moviegoers as the daring P.O.W. who attempted to flee his Nazi captors on a motorcycle in The Great Escape (1963). McQueen, whose offscreen passion was racing, did most of his own stunts in the memorable chase sequence. He subsequently starred in Soldier in the Rain, Love With the Proper Stranger(both 1963), Baby The Rain Must Fall, The Cincinnati Kid (both 1965), Nevada Smith (a "prequel" to Harold Robbins'The Carpetbaggers), The Sand Pebbles (both 1966, Oscar-nominated for his work in the latter), and The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) before thrilling moviegoers with another mind-boggling chase sequence, this time in a car flying up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco in Bullitt (also 1968), one of his most successful films.

By now at the peak of his popularity, McQueen occasionally eschewed straight action films in favor of character-driven stories such as The Reivers (1969), Junior Bonner (1972), and Papillon (1973)-all of them first-rate. He also participated in Bruce Brown's documentary on his favorite hobby, motorcycling, On Any Sunday (1971). Then he gave action fans what they craved in Le Mans (1971), The Getaway (1972, costarred with Ali MacGraw, whom he later married), and The Towering Inferno (1974). Beset by a variety of personal demons, McQueen was offscreen for several years; when he returned, it was in almost unrecognizable form, under a mane of hair and full beard in a "pet project" rendition of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (1977) that was seen by few of his fans. Several years later he unexpectedly turned up in a pair of mainstream movies, the Western Tom Horn and a contemporary bounty hunter story, The Hunter (both 1980). He died later that year of a heart attack following a cancer operation.

--Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia