By Jessica Wheeler, AliveTampaBay Columnist
He was an actor who made a career out of playing anti-heroes, the characters who rode alone, but were willing to pitch in and help others when it was the right thing to do. Cowboys, bank robbers, gamblers, prisoners, soldiers—he inhabited them all, and did it with cool. Acting for the camera with a skill most actors would never learn, he mastered the art of underplaying, often eschewing lines of dialogue in favor of showing the emotions with his face. As a result, his movies still hold up today, when performances by actors in other films from that era can sometimes read as ham-fisted, over the top.
Read Jessica’s four-part series of articles and videos called the “Summer of Steve McQueen”:
Why Steve McQueen is Still the King of Cool
Five Things to Know About Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen’s Seven Greatest Movie Moments
The Five Best Songs Inspired by Steve McQueen