On screen, Steve McQueen was the King of Cool. With his blond hair, blazing blue eyes and chiselled features, his face was more eloquent than any of the lines written for him in hit movies such as The Great Escape, Bullitt, Getaway and The Thomas Crown Affair. His tough, raw charisma appealed to male and female cinemagoers alike. He was seen as a romantic hero and an adventurer; uncompromisingly macho, yet with — his fans liked to believe — a gentle heart. No wonder he became the highest-paid movie star in the world until his death in 1980 at the age of 50, and no wonder his films live on.
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Steve McQueen was the world's highest paid actor at the time of his death
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The screen legend was the son of an alcoholic prostitute
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His son Chad said McQueen was afraid that he would lose everything
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McQueen demanded consignments of razors and jeans on every movie
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He donated the goods to a charity which helped him as a young boy
@placeholder insisted his family came with him on long location shoots.