Steve McQueen: The Great Escape

The poster-child victim of a dysfunctional family from Beech Grove, Indiana, Steve McQueen experienced an unsettled early life with a rebellious and alcoholic mother. McQueen channeled his difficult childhood into a masterful career on screen portraying tough, self-sufficient characters in such iconic films as The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Bullitt (1968), and Papillon (1973). Nationally Known film historian Wes D. Gehring explores how McQueen rose from his days as a troubled youth into one of Hollywood's top box-office stars of the 1960s and 1970s, and how he attempted to ease the lives of other troubled youth. Along the way, Gehring delves into McQueen's early success as a television star on the hit Western Wanted: Dead or Alive, his sometimes rocky relationships with women, his sardonic sense of humor, the actor's love of fast cars and motorcycles, and McQueen's often neglected acting in such films as The Reivers (1969) and Junior Bon