196. As part of McQueen’s publicity duties for Wanted Dead or Alive, he had to visit state fairs, festivals, and rodeos to promote the show. His first event was at a rodeo in a small town in Texas. He had no idea what to do so he rode out on his horse and had his manager, Hilly Elkins, throw a coin for him to shoot with the Mare’s Leg sawed-off rifle. After he fired, they quickly exited the arena, got in their car, and drove off. Neither had any idea as to whether or not Steve actually hit the coin.
197. Steve’s antics on the set of Wanted are rumored to have led recovering alcoholic director George Blair to start drinking again. Oftentimes, during 15-minute breaks, he went for a ride on his motorcycle for 30 minutes, costing money and causing headaches. When Blair approached him about it, McQueen responded, “Hey, I’m enjoying my bike better than a little TV show!”
198. When the opportunity came up for Steve to play a role in a new western called The Magnificent Seven for $65,000, he once again turned to his Wanted contract and that little verbal agreement. This time, however, the shooting dates coincided and the studio refused to release Steve to film the movie. Manager Hilly Elkins knew that nothing could stop Steve from doing the film, so he gave him instructions on how to get out of the TV show. He told him to have an accident convincing enough to feign an injury, but not so bad that he would be seriously hurt.
199. Naturally, Steve McQueen pushed the limit and drove a rented Cadillac, with Neile in the car, into the side of a bank in Hartford, Connecticut. He returned to Los Angeles in a neck brace. The accident angered Four Star Studios, which right away assumed that it was done on purpose. However, it showed the lengths that McQueen was willing to go, so they agreed to let him do the movie before he actually got himself hurt or simply never returned to the set. Hilly Elkins also pushed for a pay raise to $150,000 a year, twice Steve’s current salary, and got it.
200. Much of the onscreen tension in The Magnificent Seven is largely due to the offscreen tension between the actors while filming in Mexico. Yul Brynner and Horst Buchholz, the big names, were put up in beautiful private homes and were fully catered to. The rest were put up in a local motel called Posadas Jacarandas. Steve McQueen hung out with friend Charles Bronson, whom he had worked with on Never So Few, while Robert Vaughn and James Coburn stuck together.
201. While filming The Magnificent Seven, McQueen leaked information to the press about a supposed feud between him and Yul Brynner. It really wasn’t so much a feud as McQueen trying to outdo his lead co-star while Brynner attempted to ignore him. The article infuriated Brynner as it positioned him and McQueen as equals, rather than star and supporting actor, as he saw it. He told McQueen, “I’m an established star, and I don’t feud with supporting actors,” after he told him to retract the story.
202. Even with a supposed feud going on between them, Steve still offered to help Yul Brynner with drawing his revolver. Rather than teach him a fancy move like what he did on screen, Steve taught him a rudimentary move that lacked any character. Once again, Steve McQueen was able to outshine the movie’s “star” in the eyes of the viewers. Years later, after McQueen discovered he had mesothelioma, he made amends with Brynner by thanking him for not firing him from the movie that ended up jumpstarting his career.
203. Even after The Blob had been released, Steve McQueen was still a virtual nobody in the film world and actually preferred acting on stage to film where he felt more artistically satisfied. When he received a $400 offer for three days of work to play Bill Longley in a guest appearance of Tales of Wells Fargo, he took it, citing the money as his only motivation. He hated acting in the Western, and decried it to be “the last of these cockamamie cowboy shows for me.”
204. While Steve was looking for work in the late 1950s, before his big break on Wanted Dead or Alive, he often went to the studio casting office and waited on line with the other actors hoping that he might be perfect for even the smallest part. As always, he figured out how to get a jump on the competition, although there’s no evidence whether it worked. When he finally got to the front of the line (and like everyone else), he handed the receptionist his picture and resume. Except rather than leave after being turned away, he went straight to the back of the line. He was turned away several times throughout the day, but the idea was to eventually fool the receptionists into not only recognizing him, but thinking that they recognized him from television appearances.
205. New York City has long been known as one of the toughest places when it comes to gun laws. McQueen found this out first-hand when he flew into La Guardia Airport with Josh Randall’s Mare’s Laig sawed-off rifle in his luggage. He was detained by airport police immediately and simply informed them, “Where the gun goes, I go.” In response, police took both him and the rifle to the station where he sat until a captain let him go.
206. Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O’Brien, quickly became one of the most popular shows on television, and before Steve got his big break playing Josh Randall, he felt there was a good chance of getting a part on O’Brien’s show. Hugh O’Brien was known as the fastest draw in Hollywood and if McQueen ever got his chance to go head to head, he wanted to be ready. He practiced and practiced but unfortunately never had the opportunity to face off against O’Brien before Wanted Dead or Alive came about.
207. Before he was finally cast in Wanted, or even had an agent for that matter, Steve hung around his wife’s sets trying to get her to spend time with him. He also had a knack for using her money to buy cars and go out with friends to fill his days. Neile eventually had enough of this and begged her team to take him on and find him work. She had everyone on board including manager Hilly Elkins, agent Stan Kamen at the William Morris Agency, and publicist David Foster. They weren’t enthused about taking on Steve McQueen, but if it kept their client on the rise and happy, they would do it. Elkins was eventually the one who came through with a pilot called Trackdown that morphed into Wanted.
208. To secure the part of the murderer on The Defender, a TV show starring William Shatner, Neile suggested that Steve go all out and pitch his case to the director, the producer, and the writer. Although the director held all the casting cards, she knew that he would be open to suggestions from the show’s other important leaders. On his call-back, Steve did just that and whether it was his enthusiasm, skill, or just dumb luck, he got the role that thrust him into the limelight.
209. A far cry from what he would be making by his third season, McQueen’s starting salary on Wanted Dead or Alive was $750 per episode. With 28 episodes having been ordered by the network right off the bat, Steve stood to make $21,000 that first season. He was still making half of what his wife made, but of course, the extra income went toward his 1958 Porsche Speedster.
210. Steve McQueen once got called out by a director in front of the entire crew for having to use the bathroom before a take on Wanted. In the director’s defense, Steve was sitting around for 30 minutes while the crew set up the scene, and only when the scene was completely ready did Steve decide that he had to use the restroom. The director announced in a booming voice, “Everybody take five while Mr. McQueen takes a pee!” Not surprisingly, that particular director was paid the remainder of his contract and sent packing from the show.
211. The famous TV show M*A*S*H aired from 1972 to 1983 and was set in Korea during the Korean War. In one episode, The Blob is seen playing on a television set, undoubtedly a pop-culture reference to the 1950s. The only problem is that the Korean War ended in 1953 and The Blob wasn’t even filmed until 1958!
212. Frank Sinatra took such a liking to Steve McQueen while filming Never So Few that he often instructed director John Sturges to focus on Steve instead of himself. He told Sturges that McQueen had “something that the kids will go for” and told him he didn’t mind if he wanted to focus on the young up-and-comer for a particular scene. This was an especially big deal because on every other one of Frank Sinatra’s pictures, he had to be the focus and the center of attention. Other