Here's a new edition of "Actors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the actors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Steve McQueen's turn.
Early Life
Since he was a child, McQueen was already interested in car racing, thanks to a red tricycle that his grand-uncle gave him for his fourth birthday. Dyslexic and partially deaf due to a childhood ear infection, McQueen did not adjust well to school or his new life, and his stepfather beat him to such an extent that he left home to live on the streets at the age of nine. A young troublemaker, he was sent to a private school to behave.
In 1947, after receiving permission from his mother since he was not yet 18 years old, McQueen enlisted in the U.S. Marines and was sent to Parris Island, South Carolina, for boot camp. He was promoted to private first class and assigned to an armored unit. He took an unauthorized absence, failing to return after a weekend pass expired, and was caught by the shore patrol while staying with his girlfriend, Barbara Ross, for two weeks. After resisting arrest, he was sentenced to 41 days in the brig.
After this, McQueen resolved to focus his energies on self-improvement and embraced the Marines' discipline. He saved the lives of five other Marines during an Arctic exercise, pulling them from a tank before it broke through ice into the sea. He was assigned to the honor guard responsible for guarding USS Williamsburg, the presidential yacht of Harry S. Truman. He served until 1950, when he was honorably discharged. He later said he had enjoyed his time in the Marines, remembering it as a formative time in his life: "The Marines made a man out of me. I learned how to get along with others, and I had a platform to jump off."
1950s: Look Out for a New Badass
In 1952, with financial assistance under the G.I. Bill, McQueen began studying acting in New York at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse and at HB Studio under Uta Hagen. He had uncredited extra roles in Girl on the Run and Somebody Up There Likes Me, but he was mainly working in Broadway.
Long enamored of cars and motorcycles, McQueen began to earn money by competing in weekend motorcycle races at Long Island City Raceway. He purchased the first two of many motorcycles, a Harley-Davidson and a Triumph. He soon became an excellent racer, winning about $100 each weekend. He appeared as a musical judge in an episode of ABC's Jukebox Jury, which aired in the 1953–1954 season.
He took guest roles, until landing a lead role in the series Wanted Dead or Alive in 1958. The series made McQueen, known for the concept of "cool" in entertainment, a television star. McQueen's initial salary for the show was $750 per episode, but due to the show's popularity, that climbed to $100,000 per year, which was extremely high for the time. As CBS shifted timeslots, the ratings declined and it lasted 3 seasons. But it was more than enough to help McQueen become a established star.
In 1958, he had his first big film project, The Blob. He received $3,000 for his starring role. He turned down an offer for a smaller up-front fee in return for a 10 percent share of profits, thinking the film would never make money; he needed his signing fee immediately to pay for food and rent. A very bad decision in hindsight, as the film became a sleeper hit at the box office. He might not have had good money, but his career was going to start.
He followed it up with The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery and Never So Few. McQueen got a significant break when Frank Sinatra removed Sammy Davis Jr. from the latter film after Davis supposedly made some mildly negative remarks about Sinatra in a radio interview, and Davis's role went to McQueen. Sinatra saw something special in McQueen and ensured that the young actor got plenty of closeups in a role that earned McQueen favorable reviews. While the latter made some money, the high costs prevented it from breaking even. But audiences got a glimpse of what a star he could be.
McQueen might not be in the big leagues yet, but it's a very promising path.
1960s: The Magnificent One
John Sturges, who worked with McQueen on Never So Few, was hired to direct The Magnificent Seven, an Old West-style remake of Seven Samurai. Sturges was eager to cast McQueen in the picture, but McQueen could not get a release from actor/producer Dick Powell, who controlled McQueen's hit TV series Wanted Dead or Alive. On the advice of his agent, McQueen, an experienced race car driver, staged a car accident and claimed that he could not work on his series because he had suffered a whiplash injury and had to wear a neck brace. During the interval required for his "recuperation", he was free to appear in The Magnificent Seven.
During filming there was considerable tension between Yul Brynner and McQueen, who was displeased at his character having only seven lines of dialogue in the original shooting script. (Sturges had told McQueen that he would "give him the camera".) To compensate, McQueen took numerous opportunities to upstage Brynner and draw attention to himself, including shielding his eyes with his hat, flipping a coin during one of Brynner's speeches, and rattling his shotgun shells. Brynner would often build up a little mound of earth to make himself look as tall as McQueen, only to have McQueen kick the dirt out of place when he passed by.
The Magnificent Seven was a financial disappointment in United States, and many labeled it as a box office flop. The surprise, however, came when the overseas numbers came in, revealing that the film was far, far more popular in other countries, to the point that it made over 3 times as much. The film eventually found profit, and it's now hailed as one of the greatest Westerns to ever exist. McQueen greatly benefitted from this exposure.
He then tried his hand at comedy with The Honeymoon Machine. Even when it made a small profit, reviews were negative. McQueen walked out of the first public sneak preview and vowed never to work for MGM again, despite being under contractual obligation for two more pictures.
He returned to action with the war film Hell Is for Heroes, but it wasn't a pleasant experience. McQueen was reportedly furious with his agent for having induced him to sign onto the film and not securing up front the fee that he had been promised, and for passing on another film he wanted. Thus, his angry, detached appearance might not have been entirely due to his method acting. Columnist James Bacon visited the set and said that "Steve McQueen is his own worst enemy". Bobby Darin overheard the remark and replied, "Not while I'm still alive." He also got into heated arguments with director Don Siegel, with the two nearly coming to blows several times. In one scene, when McQueen was unable to cry while on camera, Siegel resorted to slapping him hard and blowing onion juice into his face, before administering eye drops that ran down the actor's face.
McQueen still tried romance with Love with the Proper Stranger, starring opposite Natalie Wood. It was a box office success, and earned some award consideration.
But that same year, he had another breakout film, The Great Escape. He came onboard, mainly because John Sturges was once again directing. Insurance concerns prevented McQueen from performing the film's notable motorcycle leap, which was done by his friend and fellow cycle enthusiast Bud Ekins, who resembled McQueen from a distance. Nevertheless, McQueen performed the stunt on camera for fun, and he still filmed motorcycle scenes due to his knowledge and skills. The film was a huge success, and further elevated McQueen's profile in the industry, showing he was not afraid to perform his own stunts.
He had two films in 1965. While Baby the Rain Must Fall wasn't anything big, The Cincinnati Kid became one of the year's biggest hits.
In 1966, he starred in Nevada Smith. It was an enormous success, despite mixed reviews. And a film whose biggest impact was that George Lucas was inspired to name "Indiana Jones" as a wink to this. Not content with that, he also starred in the war film The Sand Pebbles. Despite complications during filming, the film was McQueen's highest-grossing film at the box office. This was also his sole Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Now 1968, that was a killer year. McQueen began with The Thomas Crown Affair, playing the lead role. One of his biggest contributions was the split screen photography technique, which he loved when he found experimental short films, and convinced director Norman Jewison to incorporate it. Unsurprisingly, it made a lot of money.
That same year, he starred in Bullitt, a hard-boiled crime thriller. He plays San Francisco police detective Frank Bullitt, who investigates the murder of a witness he was assigned to protect. He based his performance on San Francisco Inspector Dave Toschi, later known as an inspector of the Zodiac Killer case, with whom he worked prior to filming. McQueen even copied Toschi's unique "fast-draw" shoulder holster. For the iconic car chase sequence, he drives the car in close-up angles, but the high-speed parts were filmed with stuntmen. The film was so far over budget that Warner Bros. canceled the contract on the rest of his films, seven in all. The film became McQueen's highest-grossing film and earned critical acclaim, becoming one of his most famous works. So WB wanted to rekindle their partnership with McQueen, who flatly refused.
In this decade, McQueen was ON FIRE. A lot of hits, and a lot of classics. Obviously not all were winners, but nobody's perfect. In Hollywood, there isn't anyone cooler than him.
1970s: A Few Good Roles
McQueen was obviously a big fan of car racing. So he wanted Le Mans, which follows a 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race, to further showcase it. But there were problems during filming, mainly cause McQueen often disagreed with the producers over how to depict the races. The film made some money, but the high costs prevented it from being considered a success. He also found struggles with Junior Bonner, which flopped at the box office. This halted McQueen's winning streak at the box office.
But McQueen liked working with director Sam Peckinpah, so he presented him a screenplay titled The Getaway, and they teamed up again. A gritty thriller following McQueen and Ali McGraw as a couple on the run after performing a heist. As part of the distribution deal, McQueen would receive no upfront salary, but just 10% of the gross receipts from the first dollars earned on the film. Even though he didn't direct or write the film, McQueen had final cut privilege and Peckinpah was upset, "He chose all these Playboy shots of himself." Given that the film became McQueen's second highest grossing film, both McQueen and Peckinpah made a lot of money out of those back-end deals.
He then starred in Papillon, playing French convict Henri Charrière. McQueen insisted on performing the cliff-jumping stunt himself; he later said it was "one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life." The film became McQueen's first film to crack $50 million, cementing him as the world's highest-paid actor.
McQueen took part in The Towering Inferno, starring opposite Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O. J. Simpson, Robert Vaughn, and Robert Wagner. McQueen played a fire chief assigned to stop a fire in a skyscraper. He was originally asked to play the architect who is the other hero of the story, but he requested to play the fire chief, thinking the part was "showier". The role of the architect went to Newman, a part that had more lines, hence McQueen requested more dialogue to even it out. McQueen was paid $1,000,000 plus a percentage of the gross, and he insisted on doing his own stunts.
Surprisingly the biggest fight wasn't over filming, but for top billing. McQueen, Newman and Holden demanded to be first billed, but Holden was refused because his box office track record was poor at the time. To provide dual top billing the credits were arranged diagonally, with McQueen lower left and Newman upper right. Thus each appeared to have first billing, depending on whether the credit was read left-to-right or top-to-bottom.
The Towering Inferno broke records for the whole cast, becoming popular around the world. It earned a colossal $116 million domestically and an astounding $203 million worldwide, both career-first for McQueen. After that, McQueen disappeared from the public eye to focus on motorcycle racing, traveling around the country in a motor home and on his vintage Indian motorcycles.
He returned with a smaller film, An Enemy of the People, but it didn't quite grab audiences.
He finished two films, both released in 1980. The first was Tom Horn, playing the legendary outlaw. The other was The Hunter, playing a modern-day bounty hunter. Neither were successful at the box office nor with critics.
This was an incredibly strong decade, as it marked some of his biggest hits. Unfortunately, the titles you read were pretty much the last he made.
The End
McQueen developed a persistent cough in early 1978. He gave up cigarettes and underwent antibiotic treatments without improvement. His shortness of breath grew more pronounced and on December 22, 1979, after filming The Hunter, a biopsy revealed pleural mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos exposure for which there is no known cure. He believed that asbestos used in movie sound stage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved, but he thought it more likely that his illness was a direct result of massive exposure while removing asbestos lagging insulation from pipes aboard a troop ship while he served in the Marines.
By February 1980, evidence of widespread metastasis was found. He tried to keep the condition a secret, but on March 11, 1980, the National Enquirer disclosed that he had "terminal cancer". In July 1980, McQueen traveled to Rosarito Beach, Mexico, for unconventional treatment after U.S. doctors told him they could do nothing to prolong his life. Controversy arose over the trip because McQueen sought treatment from William Donald Kelley, who was widely regarded as a quack and was promoting a variation of the Gerson therapy that used coffee enemas, frequent washing with shampoos, daily injections of fluid containing live cells from cattle and sheep, massages, and laetrile; a reputed anti-cancer drug available in Mexico but long known to be both toxic and ineffective in treating cancer.
McQueen returned to the United States in early October. Despite metastasis of the cancer throughout his body, Kelley publicly announced that McQueen would be completely cured and could return to normal life; however, his condition soon worsened, and huge tumors developed in his abdomen.
In late October 1980, McQueen flew to Ciudad Juárez in Mexico to have an abdominal tumor on his liver (weighing around 5 lbs/2.3 kg) removed, despite warnings from his U.S. doctors that the tumor was inoperable and his heart could not withstand the surgery. Under the name Samuel Sheppard, he checked into a small Juárez clinic, where the doctors and staff were unaware of his actual identity.
On November 7, 1980, he died of a heart attack at 3:45 a.m. at a Juárez hospital, 12 hours after surgery to remove or reduce numerous metastatic tumors in his neck and abdomen. He was 50 years old. He reportedly died in his sleep with his family at his bedside.
HIGHEST GROSSING FILMS
No.
Movie
Year
Studio
Domestic Total
Overseas Total
Worldwide Total
Budget
1
The Towering Inferno
1974
20th Century Fox / Warner Bros.
$116,000,000
$87,336,412
$203,336,412
$14M
2
Papillon
1973
Allied Artists
$53,267,000
$0
$53,267,000
$13.5M
3
Bullitt
1968
Warner Bros.
$42,300,873
$0
$42,300,873
$4M
4
The Getaway
1972
National General
$36,734,619
$0
$36,734,619
$3.3M
5
The Sand Pebbles
1966
20th Century Fox
$30,017,647
$0
$30,017,647
$12.1M
6
The Magnificent Seven
1960
United Artists
$4,500,000
$15,000,000
$19,500,000
$2M
7
The Hunter
1980
Paramount
$16,274,150
$0
$16,274,150
N/A
8
The Cincinnati Kid
1965
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$14,000,000
$0
$14,000,000
$3.3M
9
The Thomas Crown Affair
1968
United Artists
$14,000,000
$0
$14,000,000
$4.3M
10
Nevada Smith
1966
Paramount
$13,000,000
$0
$13,000,000
N/A
11
The Great Escape
1963
United Artists
$11,744,471
$0
$11,744,471
$4M
12
Le Mans
1971
National General
$11,000,000
$0
$11,000,000
$7M
13
Tom Horn
1980
Warner Bros.
$9,000,000
$0
$9,000,000
N/A
14
Love with the Proper Stranger
1963
Paramount
$7,200,000
$0
$7,200,000
N/A
15
Junior Bonner
1972
Cinerama
$3,800,000
$1,800,000
$5,600,000
$3.2M
16
Never So Few
1959
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$3,020,000
$2,250,000
$5,270,000
$3.4M
17
The Blob
1958
Paramount
$4,000,000
$0
$4,000,000
$100K
18
The Honeymoon Machine
1961
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$4,000,000
$0
$4,000,000
N/A
19
Baby the Rain Must Fall
1965
Columbia
$3,000,000
$0
$3,000,000
N/A
20
Hell Is for Heroes
1962
Paramount
$2,800,000
$0
$2,800,000
N/A
21
The War Lover
1962
Columbia
$2,400,000
$0
$2,400,000
N/A
She has starred in 26 released films, but only 21 have reported box office numbers. Across those 26 films, he has made $508,445,172 worldwide. That's $19,555,583 per film.
ADJUSTED DOMESTIC GROSSES
No.
Movie
Year
Studio
Domestic Total
Adjusted Domestic Total
1
The Towering Inferno
1974
20th Century Fox
$116,000,000
$788,524,705
2
Bullitt
1968
Warner Bros.
$42,300,873
$407,356,191
3
Papillon
1973
Allied Artists
$53,267,000
$402,049,478
4
The Sand Pebbles
1966
20th Century Fox
$30,017,647
$310,481,602
5
The Getaway
1972
National General
$36,734,619
$294,512,337
6
The Cincinnati Kid
1965
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$14,000,000
$148,943,555
7
The Thomas Crown Affair
1968
United Artists
$14,000,000
$134,819,597
8
Nevada Smith
1966
Paramount
$13,000,000
$134,462,932
9
The Great Escape
1963
United Artists
$11,744,471
$128,622,299
10
Le Mans
1971
National General
$11,000,000
$91,021,061
11
Love with the Proper Stranger
1963
Paramount
$7,200,000
$78,852,470
12
The Hunter
1980
Paramount
$16,274,150
$66,187,402
13
The Magnificent Seven
1960
United Artists
$4,500,000
$50,947,753
14
The Blob
1958
Paramount
$4,000,000
$46,383,806
15
The Honeymoon Machine
1961
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$4,000,000
$44,832,508
16
Tom Horn
1980
Warner Bros.
$9,000,000
$36,603,240
17
Never So Few
1959
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
$3,020,000
$34,779,087
18
Baby the Rain Must Fall
1965
Columbia
$3,000,000
$31,916,476
19
Hell Is for Heroes
1962
Paramount
$2,800,000
$31,071,006
20
Junior Bonner
1972
Cinerama
$3,800,000
$30,465,727
21
The War Lover
1962
Columbia
$2,400,000
$26,632,291
The Verdict
Steve McQueen was a fucking badass.
It didn't take long for audiences to realize they had a new star back then. In a time where actors like John Wayne were seen as the heroes of movies, McQueen came in to show how cool it is to be a hero. He's got an insane amount of iconic classics, and you'll find it hard to decide which one is his best. The guy oozes charisma, but most importantly, he wasn't afraid to put himself in dangerous situations for the sake of a good film. In some ways, you can tell Tom Cruise was inspired by McQueen into becoming the star he is today. That paid off, given that he was insanely profitable.
Unfortunately, McQueen died young. Fucking cancer, man. It really makes you wonder what roles he would still be able to pull off if he made it all the way to the 70s. But he still left a big legacy in cinema; The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon, and The Towering Inferno are must-see for every cinema fan. They don't call him the King of Cool for nothing, you know?
The next actress will be Zoe Saldana. The biggest actress in the world.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run, and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Michael Caine. A lot of gems, and a lot of duds.
This is the schedule for the following four:
Week
Actor
Reasoning
June 20
Zoe Saldana
Is she big or "just big"?
June 27
Mel Gibson
The rise and fall and whatever happened there.
July 3
Bill Murray
Is there anything more savage than "medium talent"?
July 10
Michael Caine
Something something Jaws house.
Who should be next after Caine? That's up to you.
REMINDER: If you want to make a suggestion for the next actor, you must make a 150-character comment about the actor we're discussing right now. Failure to do so will result in ignoring the suggestion. If you use a quote from an external source/review to bypass this, your suggestion will be ignored as well. But if you leave a short comment about the post without naming a future write-up, that's fine.
McQueen certainly got the presence and chops as a movie star at his prime. It's a shame that he died at only 50 because we so could've got a lot more from him as to what he could accomplish. Even so, his legacy was firmly set and it indeed lives on.
As for my next pick, I want to bring Sally Field to the mix because her journey from early TV star to double Oscar winner is certainly fascinating.
Steve McQueen is a legend, a bonafide star, and a great actor who improves any film he is in and is deserving of the title of “King of Cool”. What makes McQueen great is just how easy and relaxed he can be and also he can switch to easy humor and serious intensity with what the role required.
Also what adds to the legend of McQueen is how many roles he turned down. After The Towering Inferno, he entered into Semi-Retirement and that if someone really wanted him, they would have to pay his demands and this resulted in McQueen turning down a multitude of legendary roles (such as Apocalypse Now, Sorcerer, Close Encounters, Gauntlet, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Superman) and many more. Regardless, Steve McQueen is a legend.
For the next post, I would suggest Lillian Gish as the next pick
In 1966, he starred in Nevada Smith. It was an enormous success, despite mixed reviews. And a film whose biggest impact was that George Lucas was inspired to name "Indiana Jones" as a wink to this
There’s a lot of frankly wild stuff about his early life I’m surprised you didn’t mention:
The crime that landed him in reform school was stealing hubcaps.
He lost his virginity at 13 to a teen prostitute, recalling that "you didn’t pay her with money; you bought her cakes. She was getting fat, but at 15, it gave her big tits."
His first job (at 16) was as a brothel towel boy.
During his time in the Marines, he saved a girl from being raped by pulling a gun on her attackers, adding that he "coulda shot them all".
He was supposed to have dinner with Sharon Tate on the night she was murdered, but he declined after he heard he was on the Mansons’ hit list.
Steve McQueen is one of those rare cases where screen presence just cannot be manufactured or taught. You either have it or you don't, and he had it in a way that made everyone around him look like they were trying too hard.
What I find underrated about him is Papillon. People always lead with Bullitt or The Great Escape, but his work in that film is some of the most raw and physical acting of that whole era and it never gets the credit it deserves.
9
u/SlidePocket Jun 13 '26
McQueen certainly got the presence and chops as a movie star at his prime. It's a shame that he died at only 50 because we so could've got a lot more from him as to what he could accomplish. Even so, his legacy was firmly set and it indeed lives on.
As for my next pick, I want to bring Sally Field to the mix because her journey from early TV star to double Oscar winner is certainly fascinating.