The Side of Steve McQueen, Hollywoods King of Cool, You Dont Know (EXCLUSIVE)

Overcoming his childhood was his biggest challenge.

Born Terence Steven McQueen on March 24, 1930 in Beach Grove, Indiana, his father (William Terence McQueen) was a stunt pilot for a barnstorming flying circus, who actually left his mother (Julia Ann) six months after meeting her. Early on, when Julia found it impossible to care for a youngster, she left Steven with her parents (who moved with him to his uncle's farm during the Great Depression) in what began a cycle of him going there, getting something of a normal upbringing, going back to live with her, finding himself in conflict (usually physically) with her latest husband, then he'd go back to the farm and so on. During all of that, he spent time living on the streets (at the age of nine!), and became part of a street gang, with whom he committed petty crimes. From there he went to the California Junior Boys Republic, located in Chino. Things got off to a rough start, but eventually he came around and became a true role model. Crediting that place with changing his life, once he became famous, he always made a point of stopping by to talk to and encourage the kids. Then, he made his way to the United States Marine Corp where, again, after a difficult (filled with belligerence) start, he became a model Marine and was honorably discharged in 1950. Acting was next on his radar.

Comments Marshall, "He jumped from job to job, and then when he discovered acting… Well, he had never given acting a thought, but the line that he said was, 'You know, there's a lot of women in acting,' so, therefore, it was a way for him to meet a lot of women. Then, of course, he found out eventually that there was money involved, too. At the same time, this was a street kid who made it big, and then he wanted to know everything that there was about the business so that he could never be taken advantage of. If you look at a lot of his movie contracts, they represented firsts. He really paved the way for a lot of Hollywood stars in terms of business concerns. In his contract for Papillon, for example, he got a $2 million salary for it, but he had a lot of incentives built into that contract to the point where he probably received close to $8 to $10 million. He was able to take home jewelry, wardrobes and so on.

"So he was making big money, but he kept things hidden — not just his private life, but his business life. When his contracts started coming out afterward, it was obvious he knew what kind of money to ask for. He knew what he could get. So, again, here's a street kid who is learning as he's going along and getting as much as he can out of the business. He's not taking any s— from movie executives. These guys are barracudas, and McQueen is just outsmarting them."

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