In his final film The Hunter, Steve McQueen played celebrated bounty hunter Ralph Thorson. At 5’8’’ and 160 pounds, the star didn’t seem to possess the equipment to bring the 6’ 5’’, 300-pound ‘Papa’ to life. But those who knew the real Steve McQueen were aware that he had no trouble playing a man twice his own size.
Born and raised in Beach Grove, Indiana, Terence Steven McQueen was street tough from the get-to. Uncontrollable as a teen, he quickly wound up in reform school. Once rehabilitated, he signed up with the Marines as a tank commander aged 17, and toured the South Seas. There, his unruliness resulted in a lengthy spell in the brig.
Returned to Civvy Street three years later, McQueen went looking for adventure in the Caribbean (working on oil rigs and as a ‘towel boy’ in a Cuban brothel) before heading to New York to pursue his twin passions, acting and motorcycles.
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