Free Republic

If you're reading this column just after it was posted, the 91st Le Mans endurance race will be approaching its halfway point. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one of the three most iconic car races in the world, along with the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix. Twenty-two drivers have died on the track and countless injured, and over 80 spectators were killed in a single horrible day in 1955. But far, far down the balance sheet of losses at the Circuit de la Sarthe is the marriage of a major Hollywood star obsessed with the race....

The 1970 Porsche 917K driven by Steve McQueen in the classic film 'Le Mans' will be put up for auction next month - and could fetch more than $18million. Expected to become the most expensive Porsche ever, the car is one of racing's most illustrious vehicles having competed in the race and starred with McQueen in the movie. McQueen even drove it while crossing the finishing line in the winning shot. The sports car represents the culmination of Porsche's engineering at the time as the company sought to take its first victory at the 1970 race, according to the auction's...

A new film set to be released this week tells the story of Hollywood icon Steve McQueen and how he became a Christian before he received a lethal cancer diagnosis and succumbed to the disease. Called "Steve McQueen: American Icon," the film will appear in theaters beginning Sept. 28. The film's producer Greg Laurie and McQueen's widow Barbara Minty McQueen spoke with Newsmax TV's Bill Tucker on "Newsmax Now" about the project. "I wanted to tell the story of how Steve, when he was the No. 1 movie star in the world, became a Christian," said Laurie, who is also...

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16a, NASB).“What makes you different?” Steve asked. “I’m a follower of Jesus Christ,” responded Sammy.” The Christian faith of one of the most popular and highly paid 1960s-70s actors is the fulcrum on which Steve McQueen: American Icon is balanced. Greg Laurie, pastor, author, and long-time McQueen fan, narrates the engaging and entertaining documentary that is coming to select theaters this Thursday, September 28, for one night only. Laurie was drawn to McQueen’s story largely because of...

Steve McQueen's Le Mans Porsche 917 Sells for $14M Road & Track Brian Silvestro,Road & Track Mon, Aug 21 7:49 AM PDT Reactions Like Reblog on Tumblr Share Tweet Email Photo credit: Gooding & Company From Road & Track During Monterey Car Week this August, perhaps the most famous Porsche 917 in the world will cross the auction block. This 1970 Gulf-liveried 917K was used as a test car for Le Mans before becoming the star car in Steve McQueen's legendary racing movie legendary racing movie Le Mans film. After being sold and left to sit in a barn for...

At the time, Steve McQueen was the number-one movie star in the world, and he is still used as a point of reference for masculinity and “coolness” to this day. He was (and is) the definition of an American icon. ... But notwithstanding all his fame and fortune, a colossal vacuum lived rent-free in Steve McQueen’s heart, a yawning chasm, a lack of purpose rooted in the absence of functional, involved parents. He spent his whole life avoiding his mother and searching for his father—searching for someone or something to stand in for him, someone to love him. He had...

Best movie of 1966. Enjoy.

The epic car chase from the classic 1968 film Bullitt is still hailed as one of the most dramatic, exciting and influential in movie history.Now – as a special homage to the Oscar-winning original, which starred Hollywood legend Steve McQueen driving a Ford Mustang GT fastback – a modern day recreation is all set to be a YouTube sensation. The awe-inspiring, high-speed pursuit featured in the original action thriller was filmed on the hilly streets of San Francisco. Today’s tribute, however, was shot in Britain at the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit where the iconic Mustang will be celebrating its 50th...

Steve McQueen, who committed to Christ late in life, TV show 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' is now featured each weekend on the MeTv Network From 1963 to 1978, Steve McQueen was considered by movie fans and big screen insiders as one of the main leading actors in Hollywood. The rugged faced actor's roles defined "cool" and his persona was idolized by men and women alike, yet he remained unfazed by Hollywood's glitter. Late in his life the famous actor finally realized his need for God and decided to commit his life to Christ. Terrance Steven McQueen was born in Beech...

Today's MFASA features the only film to star both the King of Cool(Republican and later in life born-again Christian, Steve McQueen) and the Queen of Hot(sweet Lutheran girl Ann-Margret). McQueen's the title character, a young hotshot card player who goes up against the Man(Edward G. Robinson) in a high tension poker game in Depression-era New Orleans. A-M(as Melba, the bad girl or "Ginger" of the film) and Tuesday Weld(as Christian, the good girl or "Mary Ann" of the film) are the women in his life. They both look more like swingin' 60s chicks than 1930s women but hey, they're both...

From 1963 to 1978, Steve McQueen was considered by movie fans and 'big screen' insiders as one of the main leading actors in Hollywood. The rugged faced actor's roles defined "cool" and his persona was idolized by men and women alike. But he wasn't blinded by Hollywood's glitter. Late in his life the famous actor finally realized his need for God's love and decided to commit his life to Christ.

It has lain hidden for nearly 70 years and looks, to the untrained eye, like a building site. But this insignificant tunnel opening in the soft sand of western Poland represents one of the greatest examples of British wartime heroism. And the sensational story became the Hollywood classic, The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen. We are standing in the notorious PoW camp Stalag Luft III, built at the height of the Third Reich, 100 miles east of Berlin. Ten thousand prisoners were kept under German guns here on a 60-acre site ringed with a double barbed-wire fence and watchtowers. Read...

Not everyone was impressed with First Lady Michelle Obama's choice of gown for the state dinner with the Chinese president. Storied designer Oscar de la Renta was a vocal critic of her choice of a red Alexander McQueen by British designer Sarah Burton. "My understanding,” de la Renta told Women's Wear Daily, "is that the visit was to promote American-Chinese trade — American products in China and Chinese products in America. Why do you wear European clothes?” Many wondered why Obama didn't wear a creation by one of her favorite designers, Taiwanese-born Jason Wu.

Sometimes, especially in moments of national stress, one American flag isn’t enough to wrap around the country’s multiple points of view. As the Tea Party rallies have spread around the country this past year, they’ve brought with them a profusion of flags far beyond the usual Stars and Stripes. There’s been plenty of red, white, and blue at Tea Party events, certainly — but some of it is in different patterns than usual. Other flags are black and white; still others are bright yellow. There are letters and numbers and words in the mix. Also rattlesnakes. Lots of rattlesnakes. The...

Steve McQueen was the essence of Hollywood cool but he had a dark side. In a new biography an author reveals how the star befriended him and unloaded the secret of his prostitute mother, ‘psycho stepdads’ and years as a gangster and pimp Steve McQueen was the last person in the world I expected to find in Cornwall. He’d arrived some time in the night at a house that the director Sam Peckinpah was renting in Penzance while scouting locations for the film Straw Dogs. They weren’t friends. The rugged movie star had simply turned up out of the blue...

"Nevada Smith"-classic western starring one of my favorite movie cowboys, the legendary Steve McQueen is on Turner Classic Movies today at 12:00 PM EST. Co-starring Brian Keith as his foster father, Karl Malden, Martin Landau, Arthur Kennedy as his adversaries, Raf Vallone as a compassionate and wise priest and the late and lovely Suzanne Pleshette(in one of her best performances as the smoky voiced Cajun named Pilar), Janet Margolin and Joanna Moore(in an unbilled part) as the women in his life. Directed by Henry Hathaway("The Sons of Katie Elder") and a great score by Alfred Newman. Definitely worth catching if...

It was film night in Stalag Luft III and the dwindling band of surviving PoWs was marking the 65th anniversary of the daring breakout by watching The Great Escape. Even though this is Hollywood’s celebration of their story and ensured their enduring fame, it wasn’t the Nazis they booed — it was Steve McQueen and his motorbike. “We were not impressed when that film came out,” said Reginald Cleaver, 86, a flight engineer who had been shot down over the Netherlands and who helped to make disguises for the escape. “The bits about the way the tunnel was dug and...

Something you won’t hear or read about as McQueen enters a chic status among the Beautiful Poseurs that would’ve revolted him, is that he was a true iconoclast: a born-again Christian and conservative Republican who backed the Vietnam War. Keep in mind this was during the 60s and 70s when his generation of Hollywood was as liberal and hyper-politicized as today’s generation, only talented.