Editing Steve McQueen (section)

===1950s===
In 1952, with financial assistance under the [[G.I. Bill]], McQueen began studying acting in New York at [[Sanford Meisner]]'s [[Neighborhood Playhouse]] and at [[HB Studio]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=HB Studio – Notable Alumni |url=https://hbstudio.org/about-hb-studio/alumni/ |access-date=August 19, 2020 |website=HB Studio |archive-date=December 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202154941/https://hbstudio.org/about-hb-studio/alumni/ |url-status=live }}</ref> under [[Uta Hagen]].<ref name="Terrill 1993" /> He reportedly delivered his first dialogue on a theater stage in a 1952 play produced by [[Yiddish theatre|Yiddish theater]] star [[Molly Picon]]. McQueen's character spoke one brief line: "''Alts iz farloyrn.''" ("''All is lost.''")<ref>{{cite book |last=Karlen |first=Neal |title=The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish-Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews |publisher=William Morrow |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-06-083711-2 }}</ref> During this time, he also studied acting with [[Stella Adler]], in whose class he met [[Gia Scala]].<ref name="GS1">{{cite book |last=Saint James |first=Sterling |date=December 10, 2014 |title=Gia Scala: The First Gia |publisher=Parhelion House |isbn=978-0-9893695-1-0 }}</ref>

Long enamored of cars and motorcycles, McQueen began to earn money by competing in weekend motorcycle races at Long Island City Raceway.{{Where|date=August 2023}} He purchased the first two of many motorcycles, a [[Harley-Davidson]] and a [[Triumph Engineering|Triumph]].<ref name="Terrill 2020" />{{Rp|158}} He soon became an excellent racer, winning about $100 each weekend ({{Inflation|USD|100|1952|r=-2|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="Terrill 1993" /><ref>{{cite web |date=August 17, 2011 |title=CPI Inflation Calculator |url=http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm |access-date=January 15, 2012 |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |archive-date=February 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130220000114/http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> He appeared as a musical judge in an episode of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Juke Box Jury|Jukebox Jury]]'', which aired in the 1953–1954 season.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Jukebox Jury |type=Research Video |publisher=Music Footing Licensing Agency and Vintage Television Footage Archive }}</ref>

McQueen had minor roles in stage productions, including ''Peg o' My Heart'', ''[[The Member of the Wedding]]'' and ''Two Fingers of Pride''. He made his [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in 1955 in the play ''[[A Hatful of Rain]]'' starring [[Ben Gazzara]].<ref name="Terrill 1993" />

In late 1955, McQueen left New York and headed for Los Angeles. He moved into a house on Vestal Avenue in the [[Echo Park]] area, and sought acting jobs in Hollywood.<ref name="oll">{{cite web |title=Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School: Local History Timeline |url=http://www.ollalumni.com/local-history.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715000634/http://www.ollalumni.com/local-history.php |archive-date=July 15, 2011 |website=OLL Alumni }}</ref>

[[File:Steve McQueen - The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery (1959) - 2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|McQueen in ''[[The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery]]'' (1959)]]

When McQueen appeared in a two-part ''[[Westinghouse Studio One]]'' television presentation entitled "[[The Defender (Studio One)|The Defender]]", Hollywood manager [[Hillard Elkins|Hilly Elkins]] took note of him<ref name="neile">{{cite book |last=McQueen Toffel |first=Neile |date=2006 |author-link=Neile Adams |title=My Husband, My Friend |publisher=Signet Books |isbn=978-1-4259-1818-7 }}</ref> and decided that [[B movie|B movies]] would be a good place for the young actor to make his mark. McQueen's first film role under Elkins' management was a bit part in ''[[Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956 film)|Somebody Up There Likes Me]]'' (1956), directed by [[Robert Wise]] and starring [[Paul Newman]]. McQueen was subsequently hired for the films ''[[The Blob]]'' (his first leading role), ''[[Never Love a Stranger]],'' and ''[[The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery]]'' (1959).

McQueen's first breakout role came on television. He appeared on [[Dale Robertson]]'s [[NBC]] [[Western (genre)|Western]] series ''[[Tales of Wells Fargo]]'' as Bill Longley. Elkins, then McQueen's manager, successfully lobbied [[Vincent M. Fennelly]], producer of the Western series ''[[Trackdown (TV series)|Trackdown]],'' to have McQueen read for the part of [[bounty hunter]] Josh Randall. He first appeared in Season 1, Episode 21, of ''Trackdown'' in 1958. He appeared as Randall in that episode, cast opposite series lead [[Robert Culp]], a former New York motorcycle racing buddy. McQueen appeared again on ''Trackdown'' in Episode 31 of the first season, in which he played twin brothers, one of whom was an outlaw sought by Culp's character, Hoby Gilman.

[[File:Steve McQueen Virginia Gregg Wanted Dead or Alive 1959.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Virginia Gregg]] with McQueen in ''[[Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted: Dead or Alive]]'', 1959]]

McQueen next filmed a pilot episode for what became the series, ''[[Wanted Dead or Alive (TV series)|Wanted Dead or Alive]]'', which aired on [[CBS]] in September 1958. It became his breakout role.

In interviews associated with the [[DVD]] release of ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'', Robert Culp of ''Trackdown'' claimed credit for bringing McQueen to Hollywood and landing him the part of Randall. He said he taught McQueen the "art of the fast-draw". Culp said that by the second day of filming, McQueen beat him at it.

McQueen became a household name as a result of the series.<ref name="Terrill 1993" /> Randall's special holster held a [[Sawed-off shotgun|sawed-off]] [[.44-40 Winchester|.44–40]] [[Winchester rifle]] (nicknamed the "[[Mare's Leg]]") instead of the [[Revolver|sixgun]] carried by the typical Western character, although the cartridges in the gunbelt were dummy [[.45-70]], chosen because they "looked tougher".

As noted in the three-part DVD special feature on the background of the series, the generally negative image of the bounty hunter added to the [[antihero]] image infused with mystery and detachment that made this show stand out from the typical TV Western. The 94 episodes that ran from 1958 until early 1961 kept McQueen steadily employed, and he became a fixture at the [[Iverson Movie Ranch]] in [[Chatsworth, Los Angeles|Chatsworth]], where much of the outdoor action for ''Wanted: Dead or Alive'' was shot.

At age 29, McQueen got a significant break when [[Frank Sinatra]] removed [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] from the film ''[[Never So Few]]'' after Davis supposedly made some mildly negative remarks about Sinatra in a radio interview, and Davis's role went to McQueen. Sinatra saw something special in McQueen and ensured that the young actor got plenty of closeups in a role that earned McQueen favorable reviews. McQueen's character, Bill Ringa, was never more comfortable than when driving at high speed—in this case in a [[Jeep]]—or handling a [[switchblade]] or a [[Thompson submachine gun|tommy gun]].