'King of Cool' lecture at ASU on April 7

Arizona State University Welcomes Steve McQueen's Widow and Marshall Terrill

By Jeremy Roberts
Steve McQueen Examiner

Steve McQueen's widow and his biographer, Marshall Terrill, are coming to Arizona State University's Downtown Phoenix campus to discuss and celebrate the life of the ‘King of Cool’ as part of a popular lecture series. This will mark the inaugural occasion Terrill has done an actual McQueen lecture at a college, and it is Barbara McQueen's first time back to a campus in almost forty years.

They will appear at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation Building Two, 550 N. Third St., Phoenix, Innovation Auditorium, Room 110. The two will co-present, “Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool,” answer questions, and sign copies of Terrill’s two new books Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool as well as McQueen’s 2007 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

The spring 2011 Humanities Lecture series is sponsored by ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences and University College. The event is free and open to the public.

“What does Steve McQueen have to do with the humanities?” asks Terrill, who has written four books on the cinematic icon. “In breaking down McQueen’s life, one can learn about history, human behavior, psychology, triumph and tragedy, and several invaluable life lessons.”

McQueen, known for his ultra cool and nonconformist movie persona, started out life in rural Indiana. Born to a young, alcoholic mother and abandoned by his father, McQueen was left in the care of his grandparents and other relatives when he was a toddler.

Reunited with his mother at age eight, he was introduced to a series of strange men and a violent stepfather. Compounding McQueen’s problems were his partial deafness from a childhood ear infection and his dyslexia, making adjustment to his new life and schooling particularly challenging.

McQueen frequently got into trouble and soon found himself remanded to Boys Republic, a home for troubled teenage boys in Chino, California. Following that, he joined the U.S. Marines for a three-year stint and afterward used the G.I. bill to study acting in New York in the early 1950s.
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There his rebellious angst and good looks helped him become a fixture of the emerging Method theater scene, competing with the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman, with television and movie success just around the corner.

Terrill will provide a narrative spanning McQueen’s spectacular career, his greatest films (including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon and The Towering Inferno), his personal flaws and defeats, and his hard-fought battle with terminal cancer at a controversial clinic in Mexico.

Barbara McQueen will present a more human side to her husband in rare photos she took from 1977 to 1980. They record a behind-the-scenes look at personal pleasures enjoyed near the end of the actor’s life: hitting the road in his vintage pickup trucks, driving 700 miles for a rare World War I motorcycle, flying antique planes in rural California, and generally ducking out of Hollywood life.

The pictures also capture McQueen on the sets of his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter.

“It’s very strange when people say, ‘Oh, you were married to Steve McQueen?’” said Barbara McQueen. “He was such a normal guy and unlike most Hollywood stars that I often say, ‘I could have just as easily been married to a plumber or electrician.’”

For directions, visit http://nursingandhealthasu.edu/contact/nursing-buildings.htm. For parking information, visit http://nursingandhealth.asu.edu/contact/parking/htm. For more information, call Mirna Lattouf, series lecture organizer, at (602) 496-0638 or visit http://sls.asu.edu/news.html.

McQueen's widow to host ASU lecture on 'King of Cool'

Steve McQueen’s widow and his biographer are coming to ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus to discuss and celebrate the life of the ‘King of Cool’ as part of a popular lecture series.

Barbara McQueen and author Marshall Terrill will appear at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation Building Two, 550 N. Third St., Phoenix, Innovation Auditorium, Room 110. The two will co-present, “Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool,” answer questions, and sign copies of Terrill’s new biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and McQueen’s 2007 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

The spring 2011 Humanities Lecture series is sponsored by ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences and University College. The event is free and open to the public.
“What does Steve McQueen have to do with the humanities?” asks Terrill, who has written four books on the cinematic icon. “In breaking down McQueen’s life, one can learn about history, human behavior, psychology, triumph and tragedy, and several invaluable life lessons.”

McQueen, known for his ultra cool and nonconformist movie persona, started out life in rural Indiana. Born to a young, alcoholic mother and abandoned by his father, McQueen was left in the care of his grandparents and other relatives when he was a toddler. Reunited with his mother at age eight, he was introduced to a series of strange men and her violent boyfriends. Compounding McQueen’s problems were his partial deafness from a childhood ear infection and his dyslexia, making adjustment to his new life and schooling particularly challenging.

The teen-aged McQueen frequently got into trouble and soon found himself remanded to Boys Republic, a home for troubled teenage boys in Chino, California. Following that, he joined the U.S. Marines for a three-year stint and afterward used the G.I. bill to study acting in New York in the early 1950s. There, his rebellious angst and good looks helped him become a fixture of the emerging Method theater scene, competing with the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman, with television and movie success just around the corner. Terrill will provide a narrative spanning McQueen’s spectacular career, his greatest films (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon and The Towering Inferno), his personal flaws and defeats, and his hard-fought battle with terminal cancer at a controversial clinic in Mexico.

Widow Barbara McQueen will present a more human side to her husband in rare photos she took from 1977 to 1980. They record a behind-the-scenes look at personal pleasures enjoyed near the end of the actor’s life: hitting the road in his vintage pickup trucks, driving 700 miles for a rare World War I motorcycle, flying antique planes in rural California, and generally ducking out of Hollywood life. The pictures also capture McQueen on the sets of his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter.

“It’s very strange when people say, ‘Oh, you were married to Steve McQueen?’” said Barbara McQueen. “He was such a normal guy and unlike most Hollywood stars that I often say, ‘I could have just as easily been married to a plumber or electrician.’”
Author Marshall Terrill is a film, sports and music writer and the author of more than a dozen books, including best-selling biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley and basketball legend “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Three of his books are in development to be made into movies, including an upcoming McQueen biopic for Black Swan producer Brian Oliver.

Barbara Minty McQueen is the widow of the famous actor and met McQueen in 1977. They remained married until his Nov. 7, 1980, death. She resides in Ketchum, Idaho.

Barbara McQueen Examiner.com interview

Tom Horn was actor Steve McQueen's penultimate film, and it was perhaps the project closest to his heart. Based on the life of the famed Wild West detective/assassin, McQueen recorded extensive notes on a tape recorder over a nearly three-year period.

The actor even went so far as to camp out one night at the gunfighter's grave in Boulder, Colorado, claiming Horn's ghost visited with him. Fortunately, McQueen's efforts paid off (he was also executive producer), as many fans consider the role to be among his best, including his good friend and fellow actor, the late James Coburn.

With a good supporting cast, including a pre-Dynasty Linda Evans, and noted character actors Richard Farnsworth, Slim Pickens, and Geoffrey Lewis, the film was still not a box office hit when released in March 1980.

Why was this? Largely, because Tom Horn came at a time when the western was virtually dead. Nineteen seventy-six was the last year when a significant continual stream of westerns hit the big screen, including John Wayne's The Shootist and Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.

McQueen also didn't have the opportunity to promote the film as much as he might have liked to, as his cancer diagnosis came a few months before the film's release. Fortunately for us, Barbara McQueen is alive and well, and she was on location with her husband throughout the filming.

As part of an ongoing interview series (go here for the previous installment), what follows below are Ms. McQueen's always-entertaining recollections of life on a western movie shoot. So sit back, because the fun starts right now...



The Barbara McQueen Interview

Tom Horn was your first film shoot with Steve. How do you remember that experience?

I’ve never sat down and watched Tom Horn. But I was there, and the film was just the best adventure and my absolute favorite experience. But god, it was cold.

Being part of a movie set was every little girl’s dream, at least for me, since I grew up on a dairy farm in Oregon. I’ll always be a cowgirl, and I tended to lose myself in that western setting.

When the film company was shooting on location in southern Arizona, we had the option of staying in an upscale hotel in Tucson, but we decided to take a motor home and live there on the set.

Steve parked it out in the middle of nowhere, close to the set, and early every morning he and his good friend Pat Johnson would jog. I loved that experience.

Staying Near The Mexican Border, With a Colt .45…

We changed location about three times, and on one such occasion we were less than one mile from the Mexican border. Remember, this was in 1979 before there were serious border issues between the two countries. Steve would go in the daytime to the set, which was a couple miles away, and he’d leave me all alone.

He thought I was a nutcase since I’d dress the part of a cowgirl, putting on little petticoats, cowboy boots, the whole works. I was really diggin’ it, as there wasn’t a soul around. I could get on my little horse and ride, or I could just walk around and be in my own world.

When the crew was shooting in another area, the entire western town was virtually empty except for a few wranglers and set builders. I often seized the moment and loved riding my horse on the sidewalks, since all the buildings were facades. Even in my mid-twenties, I imagined being on horseback in the late 1800s. Such a blast.

One day before heading out on location, Steve walked over to me and put a holster and Colt .45 on my belt. He said, “If you’re gonna stay here, this will be on you at all times. The border has a lot of traffic and nobody’s gonna hurt you, but just in case, I want you to be prepared.”

He taught me how to use the pistol really well. I had a field gun permit, but it didn’t matter down there. I saw several guys crossing the border and I’d just wave at them. My thinking was, Hey, you do what you do, and I do what I do; you stay there, and I stay away.



Would Steve often go over the script with you?

I remember sitting in the trailer at night and Steve would throw a script at me. He’d say, “Here, read the other part,” and when he read his part, I’d laugh at him. I’d answer, “Good god, you’re horrible.” Steve often retorted, “Shut up and just read it please!”

Now I understand Steve was memorizing the lines. He wasn’t putting any emotion into it. He was dyslexic, so he didn’t read very well, and he went over and over that script. We laughed and giggled, I teased him, and it was just a good, fun time for us.



So, how did your dad become a shotgun-carrying extra?

My father (Gene) and mother (Wilma) visited the set one day and Steve said to them, “Would you like to dress up and be extras? It won’t be a problem at all.” My dad said immediately, “Oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Mom wasn’t too crazy about that proposition, but my dad was a huge western freak. So Dad became a general extra for a few days. Not long after the casting director had to pick five or six extras to play the jailers who were behind Steve during the final hanging scene.

The only stipulation was the extras had to have the meanest, grumpiest face you could imagine. Well, darned if they didn’t pick my dad. He went up to Steve and thanked him, but Steve said, “Thank you for what?”

My dad explained that he would get to stay an extra two weeks and play a little part in the movie. Steve said, “Mr. Minty, I had nothing to do with it; that’s all your doing.”

As it turned out, the only reason they picked my dad was because he looked mean as hell. While my dad was a pussycat to me, because I was his little girl, he wasn't a man you wanted to cross.

My dad didn’t have any lines, but he got to walk with a shotgun behind Steve to the gallows. I don’t think Steve was too nervous. My dad probably just loved that, and that became a joke around the set. I’m glad my dad got to do it because he got a kick out of playing dress up.



Did you become friends with any of Steve’s co-stars, such as the beloved cowboy actors Richard Farnsworth or Slim Pickens?

I loved Richard Farnsworth, and I kept in touch with him after Tom Horn. I played polo for many years after Steve passed away, and Farnsworth was always around the field in L.A. He’d make a point or I would to go say hello to each other.

He was the most wonderful, gentle soul; Farnsworth was exactly the man you saw on the screen. If there was ever a real thing in the world, he was the real thing. The epitome of a man’s man, he was something else.

Slim Pickens and Dirty Jokes

Slim Pickens was funny, nice, and just an all-around good guy. He was exactly what you would have wanted him to be. I don’t know any of his earlier movies, but I remember him riding on that bomb in Peter Sellers’ comedy classic, Dr. Strangelove.

Between shots and setting up, the actors would all go to this one little house. They’d sit down, and Slim would go off on these tangents of filthy, dirty jokes. For two days I sneaked in there, as nobody knew I was hiding behind one of the walls.

On the third day, all of a sudden I heard, “Barbi, get out here!” I went, “Oh god, I’m busted,” and I quickly walked out. My dad was looking at me very sternly, shaking his head, and he said, “You know better than that.” Unfortunately, that was the last time I got to do that.



Thirty years later, how does Tom Horn stack up?

Tom Horn could have been a great film, but the studio wouldn’t give them enough money. It’s too bad the film didn’t go further, but once again, I don’t know the business.

Regardless, from what I heard about Steve during the shoot, he could be difficult. That was his baby, and he wanted it his way.


See Barbara McQueen and biographer Marshall Terrill at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs. The two will make a presentation, answer questions and sign copies of Terrill's new biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and McQueen's 2006 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

To RSVP for this special event and book signing, call 760-325-0046 or visit www.inglesideinn.com.