Few movie stars embodied the suave nonchalance of the counterculture of the 1960s better than Steve McQueen, a top box office draw whose effortless charm earned him the nickname the “King of Cool.” With a rugged charm both on screen and off, McQueen’s understated style and influential fashion choices made him one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors. As an Academy Award nominee with several iconic roles to his name, McQueen’s movie characters often reflected his status as a real-life rebel.

Many of Steve McQueen’s best films powerfully showcase why he’s come to embody the very essence of swagger as he laid the groundwork for the personas of countless future action stars. With a laid-back atтιтude, often minimal dialogue, and a strong screen presence, McQueen’s characters never allowed themselves to be undermined by others, as he always highlighted a self-ᴀssured, can-do atтιтude. In an age where stars of McQueen’s calibre feel like relics of a bygone era, he has maintained his status as the “King of Cool.”

8

Ralph “Papa” Thorson

The Hunter (1980)

While most iconic cool-guy actors typically see their persona diminish over the years, Steve McQueen never lost his status as the “King of Cool,” which was even apparent in his final role. McQueen delivered his final performance as Ralph “Papa” Thorson in The Hunter, a biographical action thriller about a real-life bounty hunter, released just mere months before he pᴀssed away while recovering from surgery to remove cancerous tumors at age 50. While McQueen was not in the best of health while filming, The Hunter still acted as a fitting last hurrah for the aging action star.

Although McQueen’s characterization of Thorson was not as slick as his character’s from his earlier roles, The Hunter was filled with impressive stunts made all the more compelling considering the star’s faltering health. With a simple premise about a bounty hunter taking out bad guys, small-time crooks, and cunning criminals, The Hunter balanced action and humor well. While not one of McQueen’s best-known characters, Thorson proved his suave charisma was intact until the very end.

7

Vin Tanner

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

It’s a testament to Steve McQueen’s status as the “King of Cool” that he joined several other major stars of the era in the Western team-up classic The Magnificent Seven. As Vin Tanner, McQueen represented the second-in-command to the group’s leader Chris Adams, and he more than held his own opposite stars like Yul Brynner and Charles Bronson. As a loose remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven represented one of the most iconic and influential Western movies ever made.

McQueen’s characterization of Tanner embodied the cool charisma of a laid-back gunslinger with a mysterious and intriguing past. With sharp reflexes and a fearless atтιтude, Tanner had the skills needed to be an essential addition to this group of outlaws helping protect a Mexican village from bandits. While McQueen ensured that Tanner always came across as competent, part of his charm was that he never sought glory and was confident his efforts spoke for themselves without needing to brag.

6

Jake Holman

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

Steve McQueen received an Academy Award nomination for his role as Jake Holman in The Sand Pebbles, an essential release in him earning his nickname as the “King of Cool.” From the acclaimed The Sound of Music director Robert Wise, The Sand Pebbles represented the filmmaker’s move into epic war drama as it addressed soldiers on the Yangtze Patrol in 1920s China. With McQueen as the Navy Machinist’s Mate First Class Holman, his character’s strong moral code saw him unafraid to stand in the face of authority when he knew he was right.

The Sand Pebbles saw McQueen portray a man who comes face-to-face with authority as he must contend with the fallout of being blamed for an engine malfunction. With a runtime clocking in at more than three hours, The Sand Pebbles was the rare kind of movie that provided enough time for its characters to be fully explored as different grievances and conflicting opinions came powerfully to the surface. With a sense of compᴀssion for the oppressed Chinese workers onboard, McQueen as Holman embodied a cool sense of confidence and a never-back-down atтιтude.

5

Doc McCoy

The Getaway (1972)

The no-nonsense atтιтude of Steve McQueen’s best characters is usually best paired with a penchant for crime, and nowhere was this more apparent than with Doc McCoy in The Getaway. This thrilling crime story from director Sam Peckinpah told of a mastermind robber (McQueen) whose wife Carol (Ali MacGraw) conspires for his release on the condition that they rob a bank in Texas. However, when the duo is double-crossed, the McCoys must flee to Mexico with the police H๏τ on their tails.

The Getaway captured McQueen’s talent for portraying a calm demeanor under intense pressure, as Doc must contend with a thrilling life-ruining situation while trying to ensure he and his wife don’t end up behind bars for the rest of their lives. While Doc embodied the unwavering self-preservation that made some of his best characters seem so cool, his unwavering commitment to his wife only added to this appeal. As one of the most badᴀss antiheroes of the 1970s, Doc McCoy represented McQueen’s coolest role during that decade.

4

Thomas Crown

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

Thomas Crown represented yet another of Steve McQueen’s iconic suave masterminds as this millionaire businessman concocts the near-perfect crime in The Thomas Crown Affair. As a handsome, dashing, cultured adrenaline junkie, right from the get-go, Crown is presented as the epitome of cool whose cunning, calculated nature comes to a head as he encounters Vicki Anderson, played by Faye Dunaway.

Anderson was the one hired by an insurance company to investigate the circumstances of Crown’s crime, which saw five men steal $2.66 million from a Boston bank in a clever heist. Despite being clear adversaries, Crown’s undeniable charm meant that even though he was robbing extraordinary amounts of money out from under Anderson’s employers noses, she couldn’t help but be swept off her feet by his gentlemanly demeanor. While Pierce Brosnan attempted to recapture the magic of McQueen’s performance in the 1999 remake, this couldn’t hold a candle to McQueen’s cool characterization.

3

Captain Virgil Hilts

The Great Escape (1963)

While Steve McQueen may have earned his nickname as the “King of Cool” through his bad-boy persona and charismatic performances, his character in The Great Escape was also known under the name ‘The Cooler King.’ As Captain Virgil Hilts, McQueen was an essential addition to this epic adventure story that saw British Commonwealth prisoners of war from German POW camp Stalag Luft III in World War II.

Captain Hilts was known for his rebellious and unbreakable spirit, which aligned well with McQueen’s reputation offscreen. As a character who was constantly testing the limits of his German captors, even in solitary confinement, Hilts managed to embody the very essence of cool as he casually bounced a baseball against the wall in an often parodied scene. The Great Escape was a love letter to the tenacity of the human spirit, and the coolest thing about Hilts was that he never lost his sense of defiance, even if faced with unsurmountable challenges.

2

Eric “The Kid” Stoner

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Steve McQueen was perfectly cast as Eric “The Kid” Stoner in The Cincinnati Kid, a story of gambling in New Orleans that acted as the perfect vehicle for his calm and unshakable cool-guy persona. As an up-and-coming poker player, this Depression-era story saw McQueen’s character vie for a reputation as the very best and challenge the older poker champion Lancey “The Man” Howard in the process. As everything built toward the pair’s famous climactic poker game, The Cincinnati Kid is a high-stakes drama that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

For a movie like The Cincinnati Kid to work, it’s absolutely essential that a star as calm and collected as McQueen be at the helm. It was crucial that Stoner’s skill as a gambling champion be believable to viewers, and only an actor with the screen presence and unshakable poker face of McQueen could have pulled that off. As one of McQueen’s smoothest characters, The Cincinnati Kid was a major contributor to his legacy as the “King of Cool.”

1

Lieutenant Frank Bullitt

Bullitt (1968)

In a career filled with effortlessly cool characters, one Steve McQueen role stands above the rest, and that was Lieutenant Frank Bullitt in the action thriller Bullitt. As an essential release in turning McQueen into a major Hollywood movie star, this iconic action movie saw detective Frank Bullitt investigating the murder of a suspect he was ᴀssigned to protect. With unshakable composure and undeniable style, Bullitt also boasted one of the best car chase sequences in all of cinema.

McQueen’s performance as Bullitt was a defining role in turning him into a cinematic icon, as Bullitt’s black turtleneck and tweed jacket combo embodied his status as a 1960s trendsetter. While Bullitt used his words sparingly, this minimal dialogue became a central tenet to Steve McQueen’s cool-guy persona. While McQueen played countless charismatic characters across his career, the suave presence of Detective Bullitt encapsulated why he’s still recognized as the “King of Cool.”