Born in Beech Grove, Indiana, on March 24, 1930, Steve McQueen was the epitome of 1960s cool. An avid car and motorcycle racer who performed his own stunts (worth checking out – the 1963 war drama The Great Escape, the 1968 crime thriller Bullitt and the racing adventure Le Mans, 1971 – all the while keeping in mind that it’s McQueen right there on the screen, all the time…).
He was also a multiple Golden Globe nominee: in 1964 for best actor/drama for Love With The Proper StrangerThe Sand Pebbles and Papillon, respectively; in 1970, for best actor/musical or comedy, for The ReiversMcQueen died on November 7, 1980, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, during a failed attempt to remove the metastatic tumors caused by pleural mesothelioma, a type of cancer associated with asbestos exposure – a consequence of years wearing asbestos-insulated suits and helmets while racing his beloved cars and motorcycles.