...and now some random facts about Steve McQueen & The Great Escape:
- Steve McQueen's earnings for The Great Escape: $400,000.
- McQueen's motorcycle stunts were peformed by his old mate, world-champion bike rider Bud Ekins.
- The film marked the beginning of a brief professional association and lifelong friendship with Richard Attenborough.
- According to James Coburn, McQueen was almost impossible to be around on the set of The Great Escape. "He kept saying: 'why can't movies just be about one guy and why can't that guy be me?'" McQueen kicked up such a fuss that the studio flew out screenwriter W R Burnett who rewrote Virgil Hilts to Steve's specifications. It was a measure Coburn didn't fully approve of. "I don't think his character fits into the picture, wearing those jeans and that sweatshirt. And as for that baseball mit, well, Steve was the most unatheletic guy in the world. If you threw a ball at him, he'd run away from it."
- The Great Escape was McQueen's third movie with John Sturges, Robert Relyea and James Coburn and his second with Charles Bronson.
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McQueen won the Best Actor award at the Moscow International Film Festival for his performance.
Steve McQueen | Next Fact
Richard Attenborough | Charles Bronson
James Coburn
| Steve McQueen
The Great Escape | Female Galleries
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