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Steve McQueen was born Terence Steven McQueen in Beech Grove, Indiana in 1930. He would grow up to become "The King of Cool", but no one could have predicted that from his childhood or even his first 18 years! His father left his mother when he was a baby, and he spent his childhood shuffling between his mother and a succession of boyfriends and husbands, and with his grandparents and great uncle. He was constantly in trouble, and when he was 14 he was remanded to the California Junior Boys Republic for problem kids. At first he rebelled, but eventually did quite well there, and remained associated with that institution the rest of his life. But his troubles were far from over. He left the institution when he was 16 and joined the Merchant Marine, and then quit it after a short time, becoming a drifter taking a succession of odd jobs. At 17, he joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and initially did well, but he failed to return after a weekend pass, and was arrested and spent 41 days in the brig. This seemed to be a life changing experience for Steve, for he changed his ways after getting out of the brig, and served well in the Marines until 1950 when he was discharged. In 1952, he studied acting with Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse, and competed in motorcycle races. He got some theater, TV, and film roles, but nothing major until 1958, when he got the lead part in a new TV series, Wanted: Dead or Alive. In 1959, he had a major role in Frank Sinatra's Never So Few (replacing Sammy Davis, Jr) and in 1960, he was one of the seven in John Sturgis' The Magnificent Seven. In 1963, he re-teamed with director Sturgis for The Great Escape, and McQueen was now a major star. Steve followed with a series of more great movies: Soldier in the Rain, Love with the Proper Stranger, The Cincinnati Kid, Nevada Smith, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon, and The Towering Inferno, among others! But after The Towering Inferno, McQueen essentially retired from acting for 8 years. Some say it was because he demanded three million dollars plus 10% of the gross and others say he was just tired of acting. During this period he turned down the lead in just about every great action or adventure movie, including just about every part that went to Robert Redford. In 1980, Steve finally returned to his traditional roles with Tom Horn and The Hunter, but he was diagnosed with mesothelioma and passed away shortly after in 1980, at the age of 50. But he left behind a great body of work, and there has never been another star the likes of Steve McQueen, and I don't know there ever will!

Important Added Info: Note that TV stills from the 1950s are extremely rare! This series ("Wanted: Dead or Alive") ran form 1958 to 1961, so we can't date it exactly (it once had a snipe, but that is no longer present). But this is a really wonderful portrait of the super young future King of Cool! Also note that this TV still measures 7" x 9" [18 x 23 cm].

Note that not only does our current auction of 999 stills represent the absolute finest selection we have ever had in terms of quality of image and film, but it also represents the finest CONDITION group of stills we have ever had! Half of the stills are graded as being in "very good to fine" condition (which is our highest grade for vintage stills), but we were very strict on this, because otherwise, perhaps two thirds or three quarters of the stills would have received this grade! We downgraded stills to "very good" for pretty minor defects, and many of these might have received our "very good to fine" grade in the past. And the half of the stills that ARE in very good to fine condition would likely be graded "mint" by any other auction! This is the finest group of stills I have ever seen, and I can only hope to equal it someday!

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