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At the Santa Paula Airport, Steve McQueen was a pilot, not a celebrity
LAT ^ | November 30, 2008 | Steve Chawkins

Posted on 11/29/2008 5:59:58 PM PST by Daffynition

'The Great Escape' superstar spent his last year there. Neighbors remember him as a generous man who enjoyed quiet respect and cheap beer.

One day in 1979 the King of Cool decided to fly.

Before anyone knew it, Steve McQueen was living with his girlfriend in a hangar at the Santa Paula Airport. During the day, he learned to pilot a World War II-era biplane. In the evening, the tough-guy superstar would crack open cold beers with grease monkeys, fledgling pilots and aging flyboys who still had a few loop-de-loops left in them.

He and his girlfriend, a stunning model who would become his third wife, slept on a four-poster brass bed amid his vintage motorcycles and airplane parts. His bright yellow Stearman biplane loomed over their cramped quarters, its wings close enough to create a head-whacking hazard for someone groping through the dark.

But life was good: On Saturday nights, the couple kicked back in their hangar -- really a big storage shed -- to watch "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" on a black-and-white TV. Dinner was often a feed at the local Chinese restaurant.

"It was a sweet time in a sweet place," said Barbara McQueen, the last woman in McQueen's life. "We just loved it."

[snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: stevemcqueen; stevemcqueenpics
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To: jazusamo

His like will not come again, that is for sure.


41 posted on 11/29/2008 8:18:24 PM PST by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: GoodDay

And “The Cincinnati Kid”.


42 posted on 11/29/2008 8:19:57 PM PST by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: RedRover

...and despite its campiness...THE BLOB !!


43 posted on 11/29/2008 8:24:36 PM PST by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American than a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)
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To: Monterrosa-24

I loved “The Blob”! As I recall, Steve McQueen played the part of a teen who just couldn’t get the adults to listen. Great stuff.


44 posted on 11/29/2008 8:31:17 PM PST by RedRover (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: Daffynition

Thank you!


45 posted on 11/29/2008 8:40:56 PM PST by ElayneJ
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To: river rat

I dont think so.The studios would have had a fit.


46 posted on 11/29/2008 9:59:16 PM PST by HANG THE EXPENSE (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: Daffynition

I still have that poster from the Fox Theater/ Atlanta.My grandfather took me to see the movie and bought it from the doorman.


47 posted on 11/29/2008 10:02:42 PM PST by HANG THE EXPENSE (Defeat liberalism, its the right thing to do for America.)
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To: 19th LA Inf

*


48 posted on 11/29/2008 10:09:04 PM PST by BunnySlippers (I LOVE BULL MARKETS . . .)
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To: Daffynition

There’s a reason I drive a ‘01 Mustang Bullitt GT... Steve McQueen made it cool ;-)


49 posted on 11/30/2008 12:26:57 AM PST by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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To: Daffynition

Hay is that Lee Majors? Where have all the real actors gone?


50 posted on 11/30/2008 12:31:48 AM PST by Brimack34
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To: BillyA
From This Old Bird:

'Inside the hangar where his collection is housed, he climbs onto an airplane's wing and pulls the cockpit cover back, showing the interior of an carefully restored midnight blue Stearman PT-17 biplane -- the iconic PT-17 was used for decades as a crop-duster. Built by Boeing Co. in the mid-1940s, it is a beautiful example of aeronautical engineering, and this one's allure and value are enhanced by its provenance -- until the [Bill] Allens acquired it, it was the last plane owned by Steve McQueen. No matter what he might eventually do with his collection, Allen says, "I'm keeping the McQueen."'


McQueen's Stearman Parked in the hanger of Pat Tomlinson, Porterville, CA

In: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
By Eric Burdon, Jeff Marshall Craig, Burton writes:


51 posted on 11/30/2008 1:53:49 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: ScreamingFist; mountaineer1997; Owl_Eagle; jazusamo; cfrels; BillyA; 19th LA Inf; EveningStar; ...
In my surfing I found a great user-friendly McQueen site you may be interested in that is full of photos and info/trivia: Steve McQueen Online:

The Ferrari Passion Cologne campaign

And from the Life photos collection, pix I've never seen before. Enjoy! ...


Actor Steve McQueen (R) and pals Jim Corbin (L) and Dave Resnic (C) practicing shooting during hunting trip in Sierra Madra Mountains


Actor Steve McQueen roused from sleep by pet malamute during hunting trip in Sierra Madre Mountains.
Photographer: John Dominis

52 posted on 11/30/2008 2:18:34 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: smokingfrog

53 posted on 11/30/2008 2:23:06 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: Brimack34

Actor Steve McQueen in his old room at Boys Republic, w. youngsters.

"Over the years Steve constantly visited the boys home (Boys Republic) which he himself had spent time in while growing up. Each year in the holiday seasons (when their spirits could be lowest because they had no family to visit them) he appeared with Christmas toys, Easter baskets and Thanksgiving turkeys. So these boys without a family of their own got to see a real movie star each Christmas and on other festive occasions. It wasn't just a quick publicity walkthrough either. Steve would actually just sit with them and talk for long periods of time. On one occasion, when he heard that two teenage boys had been sent to an adult prison, he offered to pay for them to be sent to a less severe BOYS institution. Over the years Steve donated large amounts of money to Boys Republic."

54 posted on 11/30/2008 2:26:30 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: Trajan88
Then you're iconicaly cool! :_D


55 posted on 11/30/2008 2:33:18 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: Daffynition

oooohhhh....excellent!


56 posted on 11/30/2008 4:01:39 AM PST by ElayneJ
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To: gunner03

“Cinderella Liberty was good, too.”

That was James Caan....McQueen would have been perfect for the part, though.


57 posted on 11/30/2008 5:30:09 AM PST by bricklayer
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To: Daffynition

Thanks for the link and pics, that’s a great site on McQueen.


58 posted on 11/30/2008 8:37:10 AM PST by jazusamo (But there really is no free lunch, except in the world of political rhetoric,.: Thomas Sowell)
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To: ElayneJ; jazusamo

Glad you enjoyed them.


59 posted on 11/30/2008 9:03:30 AM PST by Daffynition ("Beauty is in the sty of the beholder." ~ Joe 6-pack)
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To: Daffynition

I like his Jag. Wonder what happened to it?


60 posted on 11/30/2008 5:59:53 PM PST by smokingfrog (If it's to be a bloodbath, let it be now. Appeasement is not the answer. - Ronald Reagan)
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