Steve McQueen Days Festival is a family affair

SLATER, MO. (March 29, 2011) – An annual festival celebrating the life of the ‘King of Cool’, now in its fifth year, promises to be a fun-filled family affair.

Steve McQueen’s half-sister and the actor’s widow will be two of many featured guests at the fifth annual Steve McQueen Day Festival on April 29 and 30, 2011, in Slater, Missouri. 

“I am so amazed that I have been invited to participate in the Steve McQueen Day Festival this year. I have felt a connection to Steve my entire life as he was the big brother of my dreams,” said half-sister Terri McQueen, who recently turned 71. “I followed Steve’s entire career while he was alive and sought out every bit of information on him that I could find after his death. Being a part of this festival is one of the greatest honors that I could ever imagine.”

The two-day extravaganza will be Terri McQueen’s coming out party, who is making her first public appearance since she broke her silence last year that she is Steve McQueen’s half-sister. The two share the same father, William Terrence McQueen, who died in November 1958.

This year’s guests also include stuntman Loren Janes and author Marshall Terrill. Janes was McQueen’s stunt double for 22 years and has appeared in more than 1,500 television and movies in a career that spanned a half-century, including Spartacus, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Sand Pebbles, The Hunter and Spiderman. Terrill is the author of four books on McQueen. His latest effort, Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon, a definitive 610-page biography, will make its Slater debut at the festival.

The festivities will take place on Main Street in Slater, Missouri, the boyhood home of the movie icon. Slater is located in the heart of central Missouri on 240 highway, just 13 miles from Marshall.

The festival will include an opening reception dinner on Friday, April 29 at Maxine’s Tea House in Slater. Saturday’s highlights will include a classic car show, motorcycle events, a panel discussion with McQueen, Janes and Terrill, a film festival, beer garden, inflatables for children, and the debut of a new 90-minute documentary entitled Steve McQueen: The Last Years. Food and souvenir vendors will also be on hand for what promised to be a fun-filled, family event.

For more information on the Steve McQueen Day Festival, call (660) 529-2249, or visit www.cityofslater.com.

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