Editing Steve McQueen (section)

===1960s===
[[File:The Magnificent Seven cast publicity photo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Yul Brynner]], McQueen, [[Horst Buchholz]], [[Charles Bronson]], [[Robert Vaughn]], [[Brad Dexter]], and [[James Coburn]] in ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'', 1960]]

After ''Never So Few'', the film's director [[John Sturges]] cast McQueen in his next movie, promising to "give him the camera". ''[[The Magnificent Seven]]'' (1960), in which he played Vin Tanner and starred with [[Yul Brynner]], [[Eli Wallach]], [[Robert Vaughn]], [[Charles Bronson]], [[Horst Buchholz]] and [[James Coburn]], became McQueen's first major hit and led to his withdrawal from ''Wanted: Dead or Alive''. McQueen's focused portrayal of the taciturn second lead catapulted his career. His added touches in many of the shots (such as twirling a shotgun around before loading it, repeatedly checking his gun while in the background of a shot, and wiping his hat rim) annoyed [[Billing (performing arts)|top-billed]] Brynner, who protested that McQueen was stealing scenes.<ref name="Terrill 1993" /> (In his autobiography,<ref>{{cite book |last=Wallach |first=Eli |date=2005 |title=The Good, the Bad and Me: My Anecdotage |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-15-101189-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/goodbadmeinmyane00wall }}</ref> Eli Wallach reports struggling to conceal his amusement while watching the filming of the funeral procession scene in which Brynner's and McQueen's characters first meet. Brynner was furious at McQueen's shotgun round-twirl, which effectively diverted the viewer's attention to McQueen. Brynner refused to draw his gun in the same scene with McQueen, knowing that his character would probably be outdrawn.<ref name="Terrill 1993" />)

McQueen played the top-billed lead role in the next big Sturges film, 1963's ''[[The Great Escape (film)|The Great Escape]]'', Hollywood's fictional depiction of the true story of a historic mass escape from a [[World War II]] [[POW]] camp, [[Stalag Luft III]]. Insurance concerns prevented McQueen from performing the film's notable motorcycle leap, which was done by his friend and fellow cycle enthusiast [[Bud Ekins]], who resembled McQueen from a distance.<ref>Rubin, Steve. – Documentary: ''Return to 'The Great Escape''. – MGM Home Entertainment. – 1993.</ref> When [[Johnny Carson]] later tried to congratulate McQueen for the jump during a broadcast of ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson|The Tonight Show]]'', McQueen said, "It wasn't me. That was Bud Ekins." This film established McQueen's box-office clout and secured his status as a superstar.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |author-link=Leonard Maltin |title=Leonard Maltin's Family Film Guide |publisher=Signet |date=1999 |location=New York |page=225 |isbn=978-0-451-19714-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/leonardmaltinsfa00malt/page/225 }}</ref>

Also in 1963, McQueen starred in ''[[Love with the Proper Stranger]]'' with [[Natalie Wood]]. He later appeared as the titular ''[[Nevada Smith]]'', a character from [[Harold Robbins]]' novel ''[[The Carpetbaggers]]'', portrayed by [[Alan Ladd]] two years earlier in a [[The Carpetbaggers (film)|movie version]] of that novel. ''Nevada Smith'' was an enormously successful [[Western (genre)|Western]] action adventure prequel that also featured [[Karl Malden]] and [[Suzanne Pleshette]]. After starring in 1965's ''[[The Cincinnati Kid]]'' as a poker player, McQueen earned his only [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination in 1966 for his role as an engine room sailor in ''[[The Sand Pebbles (film)|The Sand Pebbles]]'', in which he starred opposite [[Richard Crenna]] and [[Candice Bergen]] and [[Richard Attenborough]], with whom he had previously worked in ''The Great Escape''.<ref name="Nolan 1984" />

He followed his Oscar nomination with 1968's ''[[Bullitt]]'' – one of his best-known films, and his personal favorite – which co-starred [[Jacqueline Bisset]], [[Robert Vaughn]] and [[Don Gordon (actor)|Don Gordon]]. It featured an unprecedented (and endlessly imitated) car chase through San Francisco. Although McQueen did the driving that appeared in closeups, his was about 10% of what is seen in the film's car chase. The rest of the driving by McQueen's character was done by stunt drivers [[Bud Ekins]] and [[Loren Janes]].<ref name="Myers 2011" /> McQueen's character drove a 1968 [[Ford Mustang]] GT 390, while the antagonist's black [[Dodge Charger#First generation: 1966–1967|Dodge Charger]] was driven by veteran stunt driver [[Bill Hickman]]. McQueen, his stunt drivers and Hickman spent several days before the scene was shot practicing high-speed, close-quarters driving.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=I Am Steve McQueen |last=Renfroe |first=Jeff |date=2014 |type=DVD |publisher=Network Entertainment }}</ref> ''Bullitt'' went so far over budget that [[Warner Bros.]] canceled the contract on the rest of his films, seven in all.

When ''Bullitt'' became a huge box-office success, Warner Bros. tried to woo him back, but he refused, and his next film was made with an independent studio and released by [[United Artists]]. For the film, McQueen went for a change of image, playing a debonair role as a wealthy executive in ''[[The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)|The Thomas Crown Affair]]'' with [[Faye Dunaway]] in 1968. The following year, he made the Southern [[period piece]], ''[[The Reivers (film)|The Reivers]]''.