The late Steve McQueen’s grandson followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and eventually became a carbon copy of him…

In the entertainment business of Hollywood, it is not uncommon for the offspring of famous people to go into the same line of work as their famous parents since abilities are often handed down from one generation to the next. This is what occurred to the McQueen family, the patriarch of which, Steve McQueen, was the one who launched the family’s acting career.

It would seem that his offspring looked up to him as a role model, since both one of his two children, Chad McQueen, and his grandson, Steven R. McQueen, created a name for themselves in the world of cinema and television.

As Steve McQueen was the first member of the McQueen family to be offered a significant role in Hollywood, it should not have come as a surprise to see his other family members go on to have successful careers in the industry.

The actor got his start in the military during the 1940s, serving in the United States Marine Corps. At that point in his life, he was still a teenager, thus he was able to convince his mother to let him go.

After serving his country with distinction, Steve was finally released from his obligations in 1950.

After waiting another year, he enrolled in the Acting Program at Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, which was founded by the well-known actor Sanford Meisner, in addition to the Acting Program at HB Studio. Because of the G.I. Bill, Steve was able to get formal training in acting after serving in the military and gaining eligibility for financial assistance.

Due to the fact that he was not very well-known at the time, the actor supplemented his income by participating in motorcycle races on the weekends.

According to the article that was published in Britannica, Steve’s career took off in the 1960s when he made appearances in the films “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Great Escape.” After that, he went on to become one of the most famous actors in the history of Hollywood.

In 1956, Steve tied the knot with his first wife, Neile Adams, and the couple went on to have two beautiful children: Terry McQueen and Chad McQueen, the latter of whom also followed a career in the entertainment industry.

Terrence Stephen McQueen was the name given to Steve when he was born on March 24, 1930 in the city of Beech Grove, Indiana. Due to the fact that he portrayed himself as an anti-hero, he was given the nickname “the king of cool,” and at one point in time, he participated in motor races under the identity “Harvey Mushman.” It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to learn that he was such a big attraction for viewers in the 1960s and 1970s given the films he was starring in.

Following that, the actor was recognized with a nomination for an Academy Award for his performance in “The Sand Pebbles.” “The Cincinnati Kid,” “The Thomas Crown Affair,” “The Great Escape,” and “The Magnificent Seven” are just a few of his other well-known flicks.

Despite the fact that Steve went on to become the highest-paid movie actor in 1974, he ended up not performing in films for a few years after that since he was serving in the military at the time.

Following that, Steve got back into acting and even took some classes with Stella Adler to further his craft. In 1955, he made his debut on Broadway with the play “A Hatful of Rain,” which also featured Ben Gazzara in the starring role. In addition to this, Steve decided to try his hand at the motorcycle races held on the weekends at the Long Island City Raceway in order to make some more cash. In spite of this, he ultimately decided to go to Los Angeles in search of other employment chances in the Hollywood film industry.

During the course of his career, Steve had the opportunity to collaborate with a number of legendary figures, including Paul Newman and Frank Sinatra. After then, Steve continued to make appearances in movies right up to the year of his death, which was 1980. “An Enemy of the People,” “Tom Horn,” and “The Hunter” were a few of the films that he directed in his latter years.

The 28th of December in 1960 saw the birth of Chad McQueen, Steve McQueen’s youngest son. Not only did he follow in his father’s footsteps as an actor, but he also took up his father’s passion for riding motorcycles and collecting vehicles.

The actor discussed the impact that his father had on him in an interview with Car and Driver that was published in 2016. He told the publication the following about his childhood: “Growing up, there were always my dad’s vehicles and motorbikes around… When I was six years old, I got my first motorbike, and when I was nine, I began racing them. He attended to every race I ever competed in, and he also made sure that my sister and I were always there whenever he went out of town for work.

Although it seemed as if Chad enjoyed his career in racing more than the job he did in the film business, Chad did have some acting credits under his belt until he retired from the film industry in 2001. His debut appearance was simply a tiny part in the movie “Skateboard” released in 1978.

After that, he went on to appear in major motion pictures such as “The Karate Kid” and “The Karate Kid 2,” “Red Line,” “Martial Law,” and many more.

The former actor afterwards concentrated on his passion of racing, but in an unfortunate event that took place in January 2006, he is claimed to have sustained many injuries after preparing for the 24 Hours of Daytona Sports Car race. The incident took place in Daytona, Florida.

During the interview, Chad said that the terrifying accident put him into a coma for three and a half weeks, and that it put an end to his career in racing.

“Yeah. I underwent something like nine operations,” he told the source, and he added, “My right eye is somewhat toed-in as a consequence of the accident, so I have a little issue with right apexes.”

In addition, he recounted the disaster in an interview with Sunday Times Driving, in which he said that the accident left him with “broken about everything” in his body, but that he was still fortunate enough to drive other people’s collections.

The marriage between Chad and the actress Stacey Toten ended in divorce in 1993. Stacey Toten was Chad’s wife. They were only successful in having one child together, a boy called Steven R. McQueen, who went on to have a successful career in the entertainment industry and seemed to carry on his grandfather’s heritage.

2005 was the year when Steven, although just 17 years old, began his professional career. He made his debut on the television program “Threshold” as a guest performer, but his most noteworthy role to date was as Jeremy Gilbert on the series “The Vampire Diaries” in 2009. He was a member of the show for a total of six seasons until leaving in the year 2015.

In addition, he has been in the television shows “Chicago Fire” from 2015 to 2016, “Legacies” in 2018, and “The Warrant” in 2020, amongst many others.

During a promotional event for Abercrombie & Fitch in 2014, Steven discussed the people who had been influential to him in his acting career. It seems that his grandpa had a significant impact on his desire to pursue acting as a career.

According to TooFab’s story, Steven has been quoted as saying, “I started watching movies that my grandpa (Steve McQueen) did, and I saw how much of an impact they made on the world.” It was at that point that I said, “Hey, I want to do that too.”

In an interview that took place in 2010 with Dave FM for the purpose of promoting the film “Piranha 3D,” Steven said that despite the fact that he never had the opportunity to meet his grandpa since he had passed away in 1984, eight years before Steven was born in 1988, he still acknowledged his grandfather as one of his inspirations in acting. Steven was speaking about the film.

On the radio program, he said, “Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet him, but watching all of his movies and stuff definitely inspired certain dreams of mine and put a little competitive spirit,” in both cases referring to the same individual.