Steve McQueen became the world’s highest-paid movie star in 1974, the year The Towering Inferno reached theaters. The actor known as the “King of Cool” had built his career playing men who resisted authority, turning that screen persona into box-office power during the counterculture era.
His films ranged from The Blob (1958) to The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963). The Sand Pebbles (1966) brought him an Academy Award nomination. With The Thomas Crown Affair and Bullitt, both released in 1968, followed by The Getaway (1972) and Papillon (1973), he remained a major draw into the next decade.
His popularity also gave him bargaining power with producers and directors, even when their working relationships were difficult. After The Towering Inferno, he stepped away from making movies. Away from acting, he competed in motor races using the name Harvey Mushman.
In October 1980, McQueen traveled to Mexico seeking surgery for terminal cancer. U.S. doctors had warned that the cancer was inoperable and that his heart couldn’t withstand the operation. He later entered a hospital in Ciudad Juárez under a false name, where staff operated without knowing who he was.
McQueen died of a heart attack hours after surgery on November 7, 1980. He was 50. Today marks 46 years since his death.