Steve McQueen - Hollywood's first King of Cool

There's cool and then there's cool. Steve McQueen, Hollywood's first male fashion icon (apart from maybe James Dean) captivated audiences throughout the early 60's and 70's on and off the screen. Known for his diva antics and love of cars, McQueen's immaculate style earned him the title 'King of Cool' or as made famous in his movie 'The Great Escape', 'The Cooler King.' He was the original bad boy of Hollywood, an industry he came to detest as he got older but Hollywood royalty nonetheless and at one point the highest paid actor in the world.

So who was Steve McQueen - and don't get him confused with the movie director Steve McQueen. Terence Steve McQueen was born on 24th 1930 in Indiana. Young Steve had a tough childhood. His father left his mother shortly after he was born, his mum was an alcoholic who couldn't care for him, he was passed around to various family members until he went back to live with his mother and new stepfather at the age of 8. At the age of 9 he was living on the streets to get away from his abusive step father and had joined a gang. After many turbulent teenage years McQueen joined the army in 1947 before studying acting at a New York playhouse and marrying his first wife Neile Adams. He got his big break at the age of 29 in the movie 'Never so Few' after Sammy Davis Jr dropped out and went on to star in movies such as 'The Magnificent Seven' in 1960, 'The Great Escape', 'Love with the Proper Stranger' with Natalie Woods and 'Bullitt' in 1968, famous for its ambitious car chase scene. His relaxed, effortless cool earned him the nickname 'King of Cool' with McQueen rarely seen without his trademark leather jacket swung over this shoulders. Cigarette in mouth, black sunglasses, skinny jeans and that unmistakable swagger made McQueen a style icon for millions of guys and girls across the world.

His later movies included 'The Towering Inferno,' 'The Thomas Crown Affair', 'The Getaway' and 'The Cincinnati Kid'. By the late 60's McQueen was a total diva often trying to steal screen time from his co stars and walking off set if things weren't going his way - well he was an Aries. His reputation for challenging directors and being difficult on movie sets only added to his bad boy demeanor. As he got older his love of  cars took over his life. McQueen admitted that he would have rather become a race car driver than an actor, and his passion for anything with a motor meant that McQueen was regularly racing. One of the most iconic scenes in cinema history is thanks to McQueen and his beloved motorbike which he famously rode in The Great Escape as he fled across the German countryside.

After 3 failed marriages to Neile Adams, Ali MacGraw and Barbara Minty, McQueen died aged 50 of a cardiac arrest, after being diagnosed with a form of cancer associated with breathing in asbestos. Yet, his sense of fashion is still remembered today as well as his iconic movie roles in 'Bullitt' and of course, 'The Great Escape'. His love for skinny, black suits and casual jumpers with jeans helped define him in a Hollywood era where personal identity was everything. The fact that McQueen could pull of a suit with ease and sophistication and then a dirty pair of overalls covered in diesel stains the next shows his fashion versatility. Ahead of his time in many ways, he was as famous for his off screen antics as he was for the stunts he pulled on screen. There will never be another Steve McQueen and these photos prove why. There will only be one King of Cool.

McQueen with his motorbike in The Great Escape

McQueen in 'Le Mans'