I have it right here in front of me. Julian died in San Francisco because that is where she lived. I have not read Marc Eliot's book but this is Marshall Terrill's second book on Steve. A full-length biography, so I am going with this one. Terrill states in his Author's Note: "...my ultimate motivation for writing this book is personal. When I started researching and writing ‘Portrait’, I was 25 and a recent college graduate (I was on the seven-year plan). Other than the occasional term paper or book report, I had never written anything of great depth or length. The research on ‘Portrait’ was exhaustive, over the top, and extraordinarily detailed because of my enthusiasm for the subject. This was in the “prehistoric days” before the Internet was launched, and finding information required more sweat than the stroke of a key, especially at the massive Library of Congress, where I did most of the research for my 463-page biography.” pp. xi-xii. The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon Steve McQueen Triumph Books, www.triumphbooks.com. Marshall Terrill, Copyright is 2010.
He has even written a book with Steve’s last wife Barbara Minty McQueen in 2012. As I stated before I am going with Marshall Terrill because of his research and the fact he wrote a book with Steve’s last wife after the above referenced book was written.
I just looked at an excerpt from Marc Eliot's book and it says Steve's father was a "onetime navy biplane flier turned circus stuntman who had no idea what fatherhood was beyond..."
His father was in the Marine Corp. In a footnote Terrill states "William McQueen's U.S. Marine Corp file was most likely burned in a July 12, 1973, fire that destroyed approximately 16-18 million official military personnel files. If flight training was part of William McQueen's military experience, that information is forever lost. There is also a family legend that William flew a biplane underneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in the late '30s but no news item has been found to substantiate such a claim." p. 7, footnote 6. The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon Steve McQueen Triumph Books, www.triumphbooks.com. Marshall Terrill, Copyright is 2010.
When Steve first started out he told the story of his father flying airplanes. It was said he made this up because he knew absolutely nothing about is father. He did find his father…three months after his death. His wife told him that his father watched him every Saturday night and wondered if that was his son.
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