Sad


This documentary mostly focuses on the last years (really months) of his life and his desire to find peace. Just as he finds contentment and a wife who was just right for him and he for her, bam, the mesothelioma sets in and takes over.

The interviews with his widow Barbara Minty were excellent. The whole thing humanized him way beyond the iconic movie star image the public knew and still knows. It made me sad that just when he started to get it all together and felt happiness, he was gone so young at 50.

I remember vividly being a kid playing on the floor of the living room and hearing Walter Cronkite announce his passing on the CBS Evening News. There will never be another one like him.

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You got that right. There won’t be.

If you haven’t seen it already, I think you’d enjoy the documentary, Steve McQueen: The Man and LeMans.

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Thank you for the recommendation! I'm going to look for that one.

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You’re welcome. I think I watched it 3 times, as I’m a fan of McQueen, the movie and international motor racing. I just searched Comcast and they don’t have it On Demand currently, but that was where I found it when I watched it. McQueen was a seriously fine racing driver, driving one of the most dangerous cars ever made, the Porsche 917, in that movie. As a side note, another star of equal stature, Paul Newman, was also as good as most pro racing drivers. To his great credit, when he drove in competition, he was listed as PL Newman. He wanted respect for his driving, not for his fame. Both those guys had class, a rarity today.

I thought your OP was very moving and literate.

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You’re welcome. I think I watched it 3 times, as I’m a fan of McQueen, the movie and international motor racing. I just searched Comcast and they don’t have it On Demand currently, but that was where I found it when I watched it. McQueen was a seriously fine racing driver, driving one of the most dangerous cars ever made, the Porsche 917, in that movie. As a side note, another star of equal stature, Paul Newman, was also as good as most pro racing drivers. To his great credit, when he drove in competition, he was listed as PL Newman. He wanted respect for his driving, not for his fame. Both those guys had class, a rarity today.

I thought your OP was very moving and literate.


Thank you, R_Kane. You're very kind.

I will definitely find the documentary you mentioned. I too am a fan of his and enjoy watching and reading anything about him. If you haven't seen the doc Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool, I recommend that one. I found it on the Bullitt Two-Disc Special Edition DVD. (On a side note that is off-topic, there's another fantastic documentary on there too called The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing.)

Let me also recommend the interview with McQueen's widow Barbara Minty in the link below to you. It is a lengthy read, but it is densely packed with so many personal anecdotes about him that only she would know. It lets a reader get a glimpse into the man beyond the screen.
https://medium.com/@jeremylr/the-definitive-account-of-barbara-mintys-love-affair-with-bad-boy-ste

I did not know that McQueen was considered an accomplished race car driver nor the fact that he drove such a dangerous car in Le Mans. Do you get the impression that for him and Newman and others who had passions outside acting that acting was the 9-5 grind that allowed them to do what they really wanted to do? It seems they kept the job more in perspective--a job. Today a lot of stars' passions are being a star.

It's been nice chatting with you!

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I found the exact CBS News footage announcing McQueen's death that I saw as a child. That statement with labored breathing he made right before his death was hard to listen to. I noticed that the announcement ended the newscast which I find interesting. That is a sign of the times maybe. The death of a star of his caliber today would probably be top news or close to the top and be wall-to-wall coverage on 24 hour news channels. I would bet that being top news would've made McQueen roll his eyes though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be0_cvzZjE4

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