After his time in the Marine Corps, Steve McQueen used the G.I. Bill, to take acting lessons in New York. He went on to star in the 1958 horror film “The Blob,” the CBS Western series “Wanted: Dead or Alive” and the 1960 Western film “The Magnificent Seven.” His anti-hero characters led him to be regarded as one of the most popular actors of the 1960s and 1970s and known by fans as “The King of Cool.” #HonoringVets | U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Steve McQueen’s Cancer Likely Resulted from His Service In the US Marine Corps | War History Online

The King of Cool, 50 year old motorcycle junkie Steve McQueen died November 7, 1980 in Juarez, Mexico. McQueen had been suffering from mesothelioma, which is a rare & incurable form of lung cancer. Exposure to asbestos while in the United States Marine Corps & his two-packs-a-day cigarette habit likely were the causes of McQueen’s cancer. But before that diagnosis, he lived well. #stevemcqueen #mcqueen #tmotorcycle #lemans | Billy Lane of Choppers Inc.