Updated March 28, 2012 – Only 50 years old when he succumbed to mesothelioma in November 1980, Steve McQueen's life was cut much too short by the ravaging disease.
It is particularly heartbreaking, since the legendary film icon had finally experienced a prolonged period of contentment, as he was learning how to fly, collecting antiques, riding motorcycles, settling in Santa Paula, CA, and meeting someone who shared his passions for living a simple life – Barbara Minty.
Ms. McQueen kept her silence for 26 years, until she published her 2006 memoir, The Last Mile. She kindly agreed to an extensive, always interesting, straightforward interview that continues below.
If you missed part one of my interview with Ms. McQueen ["Steve McQueen's widow remembers her husband on the 30th anniversary of his death"], simply catch up by clicking on the link. Otherwise, the story goes into high gear right now...
The Barbara McQueen Interview, Part Two
Talk about Steve’s sense of humor a bit….
Steve was very funny with a dry sense of humor. He didn’t have a comedic sense of humor, but he liked to get you. I remember, one day we were fighting like cats & dogs. I’m not one to back down; we were screaming & yelling, so I ran into the bathroom & locked myself in.
I could hear him banging on the door, still screaming, although he would never lay a hand on me or anything like that. He just enjoyed our verbal arguments. I thought, “Alright, I’ve got him, I’m going to crawl out the bathroom window, because he’ll never find me, and I can go hide in the chicken coop.”
I was almost all the way out the window, my foot was about to hit the ground, when Steve grabbed me from behind, around my waist, and yelled “Gotcha!” We just ended up rolling around on the ground, laughing, because I got busted crawling out the window, so that’s the kind of sense of humor he had.
Even when Steve became ill, his sense of humor was probably one of the good things that got him through that time. A case in point: Steve and I had originally thought of calling The Last Mile “The Long Haul.”
It was based on the fact that one day I was pushing him down Cedar Sinai in the wheelchair. He looked at me, kinda grinned, and said, “Well, it’s the long hall, but it’s not exactly the one we had in mind, honey.”
What’s the story behind Steve getting a perm?
Well, he came home one day in 1978 with a perm in his hair. Oh my god, everybody laughed at him. Chad and I were rolling on the floor because it was so funny.
That happened at the beginning of our relationship when we were living in Malibu. I got the tail, tail, tail end of a little bit of the movie star, pardon my French, the movie star bullshit with him. But I found it very hilarious and humorous.
Was Steve a bit of a male chauvinist?
Steve was a sweetheart underneath all of it, but he was old fashioned and liked to be the man. If there was a big bad situation, it was always nice to have him there, since there wasn’t much he couldn't handle.
As sweet as he was, Steve could have a very menacing outward appearance and personality. Those eyes could become quite cold, and let's just say, I wouldn’t want to mess with him.
I think I already know the answer, but did Steve ever carry any money on him?
Steve always feigned broke, but he wasn’t. He’d have a couple hundred stashed in his pocket. If you were out having lunch or coffee, he never had any money, so you just had to bite the bullet and pay for him.
When it came to a bargain, was Steve a good haggler?
He was so good, he was bad. The funniest thing was, if Steve was with a friend, they would have to make deals before they would go junkin’ together, because they would try to outbid each other.
As a result, the retailer would end up getting more than he wanted. Of course, if Steve really wanted something, he’d go behind the other guy’s back and get it. Steve was very determined. That boy didn’t really know the word “no.”
Steve could almost always get a good deal. He’d take it to the limit, going back and forth. If he didn’t like the way the negotiations were going or thought he was getting taken advantage of, he wouldn’t do it and walk away.
Do you think Steve’s childhood influenced his need to buy so much “junk?”
Sometimes I think that, but often I just don’t understand all that phil-o-soph-i-locca. I know childhoods make a lot of difference on people growing up. I grew up in a great family, I had everything I wanted, yet I still craved the junk and the second hand stores. I think it’s something that’s in your blood.
In Steve's case, perhaps it was due to the fact he didn’t have anything as a kid. For instance, when he would sit down to eat, he had two beers, two sides of peas, and one main course, but everything came in separate little plates. There would always be two, and I assumed that stemmed from his childhood.
Steve had a special bond with children…….
Yes, he was so wonderful with kids. One day we were sitting around having coffee when we read in the paper about this little kid dying of cancer. All this kid wanted to do was go to Disneyland.
The next thing you know, Steve was on the line with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and made arrangements for the trip. A big car picked up the kid’s family, and they got to spend a weekend at Disneyland.
I don’t think they ever knew who did that for them, because Steve did it anonymously. That sort of thing Steve never did for the publicity, and that truly shows you Steve's heart.
As a matter of fact, you and Steve later raised a young girl.
I call Karen Wilson my “insta-kid.” We didn’t legally adopt her, but she was basically ours. We brought her home to Santa Paula from Chicago (Note: During location shooting for The Hunter in November 1979, Steve & Barbara realized Karen’s mother wasn’t able to raise her properly).
When Steve died, I took her in, and she’s turned out pretty well. Today she's been married for 20 years, has a nice family, and her life is good. She was very important to Steve.
Steve’s son, Chad, often stayed with you guys, too.
Well, Chad lived with us, and he was a hoot. We’d fight like cats and dogs, & Steve would have to break us up. One time we got into a fight in the baked goods section of a grocery store, and we were throwing bread, muffins, & bagels at each other.
By the time we walked out of the store, we were laughing our heads off. Chad is a very good and decent person and has a great wife, two wonderful kids and has made a nice life for himself.
There are some beautiful shots in The Last Mile of Steve & Joshua Evans (Ali MacGraw’s son with first husband Robert Evans) skeet shooting. Do you still stay in touch with Joshua?
Joshua is all grown up now and doing very well. I saw him in February 2007 in Los Angeles. He's a good-looking kid; actually, he’s an adult, but we’re all adults now, unfortunately. He's a screenwriter and director and is very talented.
Was Steve just as friendly with animals?
Very much so, he definitely had a soft spot for animals. I had a horse that I couldn’t get into the back of a horse trailer for anything in the whole wide world. Whenever I had to haul that stupid horse, I called Steve, and he would come up and put the horse in the horse trailer for me (that horse is in the book).
Steve could do it the first time. He'd been around horses a long time (Wanted: Dead or Alive first hit televisions in 1958), and I guess they talked the same language.
How would Steve react to today’s tech-savvy generation?
I can’t picture Steve being on the Internet or using email. That would have been too sedentary for him. Steve liked the phone; he was kind of a gabby person, and I’m the same way.
He would have enjoyed the convenience of a cell phone, but he wouldn’t have been on it all the time. I bet you he never would have used text messaging. Steve wouldn’t have had much patience for those people.
I googled myself the other day, and I was like, “Where do they come up with some of this stuff?” It’s wild. How do they find out so much about you? I haven’t gotten to Wikipedia yet; I figured Google was enough for the time being.
PART THREE of the Barbara McQueen continues next. In it ["Entirely In His Element: On The Road With Steve McQueen's Widow"], Ms. McQueen discusses their many adventures on the West Coast, including the time a carload of girls didn't recognize Steve and her "drinkin' beer and fishin' in Montana" story...
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