I came across this recently and thought it was pretty cool .... McQueen and Jo Siffert -
I came across this recently and thought it was pretty cool .... McQueen and Jo Siffert -
Gratuitous: Unnecessary or unwarranted; unjustified
seems like those words should never be applied to Steve McQueenNice pic!
Early S Reg #675
I was wondering why so many idolize Steve M?
Reason enough I guess because he was a car, motorcycle and aiplane fanatic.
He made LeMans is that why?
I've also read some less than steller things about the way he lived his life.
If you know me I'm the last guy that would get self righteous here, but I just think Steve's positives are rather tempered by his negatives...
flame away
I was impressed by the real racers of Steve's time, PJ, Gurney, Hulme and many others.
McQueen simply provides a link to the 70's and that magical era when Porsche dominated racing. It's really that simple.
Mike, if you're referring to his drug use, a lot of Hollywood people did that then. In fact, just about all. The drugs led to a different lifestyle; wifeswapping and all that. In the context of the times, he was quite normal for a celebrity. For any of us that lived thru those times, frankly.
Yeah it's a little of that, at any rate in a filmed interview his ex wife confessed to how he abused her during the filming of LeMans.Originally Posted by Zeke
He lost me right there.
The more I learn about him the less I like, still keeping it simple the link to the past is as good a reason as any.
Thanks for the pics, you find some fantastic oldies!!! I bet that is not one of Steve's favorites. I doubt he liked being a part of the Hollywood PR machine.
Dig deep enough into anybody's closet you will find issues... he is not idolized for his private life. I also don't care that Sean Connery isn't a perfect gentleman. We idoloize the characters they play and if some of that spills over into reality then all the better, which brings me to:
Steve WAS a real racer, he could drive and did so on many occasions. Go rent 'On Any Sunday' if you want to see him on a bike...I was impressed by the real racers of Steve's time
Early S Reg #675
I remember seeing Larry King on CNN a few years ago in which James Garner was being interviewed. As most of you will remember, Garner made a film called "Grand Prix" back in 1966, 4 years before "Le Mans" was made. Garner stated that he and McQueen were neighbors back then as well. Apparently McQueen was very envious of Garner's television and film success, and he was particularly envious of Garner being able to do a film on car racing which was McQueen's greatest goal when eventually starting his own film film production company "Solar Productions". Garner said that McQueen regularly would throw his empty beer cans down onto Garner's driveway when he got drunk. What a classy guy...
Larry also asked Garner what he thought anout McQueen's driving abilities, and Garner stated that McQueen was known to be one of the worst drivers on the curcuit. Apparently he often damaged his own cars and those of his fellow racers.
I also remember watching the interview with McQueen's wife that GBurner is refering to. If I recall correctly, she said that he was very heavy into drugs, and besides being stoned all of the time, he was paranoid after the Manson murders and was often packing loaded guns everywhere he went. She also stated that McQueen was often high during filming and driving in Le Mans.
He was apparently also known to be a big egomaniac who demanded top billing over Hoffman in "Papillon", and who demanded to be paid more money than Paul Newman in "Towering Inferno", whom he considered to be his biggest competition in Hollywood. His ex-wife, whom he left for Ali Mcgraw while filming "The Getaway", was also his manager and greatest confidant from the beginning of his career. She was suppossedly one of the substantial reasons for his Hollywood success. He was in his late 30's when the hippie generation got into full swing in the late 60's and suppossedly ran around like a kid with the 20 year olds smoking dope and carrying on like a irresponsible teenage hippie while his wife and kids were left at home.
I generally like his screen persona and really like the stoic way in which he portrays his no frills characters in most of his movies. But when you separate the legend from the actor from the man, I expect that from what I have heard and read about Steve, I would have thought the guy was a dick if I had met him in person. Not that he would have cared....
The film 'Grand Prix' was based upon the 1963 book by Robert Daly, 'The Cruel Sport'. John Frankenheimer, Steve McQueen, and John Sturges jointly obtained the rights to it in 1965. McQueen was to be the star. However, the 3 of them couldn't agree on a concept for the film and they split up. Frankenheimer went on to film 'Grand Prix' and Sturges/McQueen planned a film called 'Day of the Champion' based upon the 66 GP season. They had signed Jackie Stewart, John Surtees and Stirling Moss. But it was eventually shelved due to delays in filming McQueen's 'Sand Pebbles' (a great movie!) and the headstart Frankenheimer got on Grand Prix. Garner had called McQueen after landing the role in Grand Prix and it pissed off McQueen enough that he didn't speak to him for 2 years! That's when he decided to put together his own racing film - LeMans.
I would have to agree with all of the above. Icon? Yes. Nice guy? Sometimes. Complete jerk? Yeah. Racer?
The guy did pretty well considering the limited seat time he had. I don't know many who could jump into a brand new 908 (with one foot in a cast) and almost beat Mario Andretti at Sebring. OK, I know he had a co-driver so flame away, but still... it's not like he was a full-time pro driver.
A good book to read on this subject (which has been mentioned numerous times on this board) is A French Kiss With Death by Michael Keyser, a respected and successful Porsche racer himself. This book made me gain and lose respect for McQueen. Call it a wash I guess.
While you are at it, pick up The Speed Merchants DVD which Keyser made in the early '70s.
It's what both Grand Prix and LeMans were supposed to be. The plot ain't as slick as Grand Prix and the cinematography isn't as beautiful as LeMans but the content is real. There are also some great scenes of the drivers at their homes, the Ferrari race shop, and a test session shot of Redman in a Chevron F5000.
The DVD is available at Autosports Marketing. Incidently, when I called them to order, I asked the guy on the phone how he got the rights to re-issue the movie. He told me it was his film! Yep, it was Keyser himself! After I collected myself, I thanked him for his work, told him I was anxious to get the DVD and hung up the phone.
Jol
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