VIDEO RELEASE DATE: 14 JUNE, 1999

Warner Vision/NVC Arts will release The King of Cool on video on 14 June, the documentary film about the life of Steve McQueen.

Steve McQueen simply had what it takes to be a superstar: good looks and a charismatic screen presence. He was, and still remains today, the undeniable King of Cool.

This film is the definitive story of his rise to stardom. There are trailers, film out-takes and home movies of this very private man, some of which have never been seen before. There are interviews with his first wife, his son and daughter, and friends and colleagues, including Robert Wagner, Michael Madsen, Jacqueline Bisset and film directors, Norman Jewison and Mark Rydell.

He made almost 30 films during his career, including blockbusters like The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, Papillon and The Towering Inferno. The characters he played were individualists: tough, world-worn types, loners, often mavericks. Early on in his career he developed a reputation for being difficult. He often changed the scripts, and insisted on doing his own stunts. (He was a motor sport enthusiast, and enjoyed motor racing, motor bikes and later in life took up flying). He shunned movie premieres and preferred the company of other stunt men. "I can honestly say he was the most difficult actor I’ve ever worked with" commented Norman Jewison. Yet his reputation as a rebel off-screen just made him even more popular with his audiences. There was an element of danger about him, on screen as well as off, danger with a touch of humanity, an incredibly attractive combination.

He was married three times (his second wife was Ali McGraw), and he was associated with a string of other glamorous women during his career. After his marriage to Ali McGraw broke up, his life was at an all time low, and he turned to drink and drugs for consolation. He had just married for the third time when he discovered he had lung cancer. He died on November 7, 1980, aged 50.

Directed by Rob Katz

Duration 60 minutes

UPC No. 3984 25089-3

Dealer Price £8.84

RRP £12.99

NVC ARTS/MYRIAD PRODUCTIONS

First shown on BBC 2, 7 November 1998

For further information, please contact:

Margaret Skeet for Warner Vision

Tel: (0181) 520 3410/Fax: (0181) 520 7730

7 May, 1999