The legendary actor and daredevil had starred in The Blob, The Sand Pebbles, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Papillon, The Cincinnati Kid, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Getaway and The Towering Inferno. He was called "The King of Cool," and I've only seen that nickname given to one other person, singer-actor Dean Martin.
Such was the respect for McQueen that he was one of the three members of the Magnificent Seven to survive the film's final shootout; and that, despite co-starring in The Towering Inferno with Paul Newman, he insisted on top billing, so his name and picture were put at the left of the film poster, with Newman's picture and name being slightly higher, so it looked like either man could claim top billing.
Such was the respect for McQueen that he was one of the three members of the Magnificent Seven to survive the film's final shootout; and that, despite co-starring in The Towering Inferno with Paul Newman, he insisted on top billing, so his name and picture were put at the left of the film poster, with Newman's picture and name being slightly higher, so it looked like either man could claim top billing.
Shortly after his death, baseball legend Yogi Berra and his wife Carmen were watching TV at home, and one of McQueen's films came on. Yogi said, "He must have made that before he died."
Steve's son Chad also became an actor. So did a grandson, billed as Steven R. McQueen. The original Steve remains an exemplar of macho Hollywood charisma. Sheryl Crow had a hit song titled "Steve McQueen" in 2002. Starting in 2006, Disney began an animated film franchise titled Cars, and the lead character, voiced by Owen Wilson, is a race car named Lightning McQueen in his memory.
There is also a black British director named Steve Rodney McQueen, who has been knighted and goes by Sir Steve McQueen. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2014, for 12 Years a Slave.
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November 7, 1980 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Denver Nuggets, 124-115 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 102-101 at the Boston Garden.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Kansas City Kings, 117-100 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Detroit Lions, 114-88 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Falcons, 103-100 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 126-102 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Magic Johnson scored 32 points.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Golden State Warriors, 122-113 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics, 113-94 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 2 NHL games played that night. The Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena. And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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