The motorcycle accident experts take a look at the life of The King of Cool

It's impossible to present a study of motorcycling legends without casting a brief glance in the direction of Steve McQueen. The King of Cool was not only an awesome actor but a guy with a passion for all things fast and furious.

His bike chase in the final scenes of The Great Escape is the stuff of folklore and the fact that he managed to avoid a motorcycle accident whilst filming it is testament to his enormous talent on two wheels.

Sadly, Steve McQueen is no more but his legend lives on and will continue to do so for many years to come.

The birth of a legend
Terence Steven McQueen didn't have the easiest of upbringings. Born in Indiana in March, 1930, his father abandoned the family shortly after his birth and his mother followed suit a few years later. He was brought up by an uncle until his mother returned when he was 12, taking him off to live in Los Angeles.

It wasn't long, however, until they went their separate ways again and he was sent to a reformatory school shortly after his fourteenth birthday. With school completed the young McQueen did a couple of dead end jobs before finally signing up for the US Marine Corps. It was this decision that would pave the way for his future achievements.

After a couple of years serving his country McQueen handed in his boots and rifle and used the GI Bill, a chance for ex-servicemen to receive free educational training, to enrol at a prominent acting school in New York. An audition was required and only two out of 2,000 applicants were accepted; one of them was Steve McQueen.

Hitting the big screen
With his acting skills plain for all to see it wasn't long before he was being cast in TV and movie parts. He eventually got a lead role in a 1958 horror flick but it was his performance two years later in The Magnificent Seven that had the audiences cheering in the aisles. He had, it seemed, finally made it as a movie star.

1963 was the year that changed the life of McQueen and brought him to the attention of motorcycle enthusiasts throughout the world following his portrayal of POW Virgil Hilts in The Great Escape. He plays a chilled-out American pilot who helps to engineer a mass breakout from a Second World War camp in Germany and the climax to the film sees his character tearing across the Alpine greenery on a stolen Nazi motorcycle.

After some daredevil riding, all done by McQueen himself, his character attempts a spectacular jump across the Swiss border but has a motorbike accident, ending up tangled in the barbed wire and surrounded by enemy soldiers.

For years it was thought that McQueen actually did the jump himself, but it later emerged that his great friend and fellow motorcycle enthusiast, Bud Elkins, performed it after the filmmakers voiced concerned that Steve might give himself serious personal injuries if he attempted it.

McQueen never turned down the chance for a bit of fast-paced action and his 1968 role in Bullit thrilled cinemagoers with an awesome car chase through the streets of San Francisco that ultimately ends in a fiery car crash. Once again, he did nearly all his own stunt work and only brought in Bud Elkins to drive when there was a very real chance of being hurt.

Movie star to racing driver
Not only on set was McQueen a bit of a speed freak, but in real life too. He actually thought about becoming a professional racing driver and it was only filming commitments that prevented him from doing so. He did, however, enter the illustrious 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida in 1970 and came a respectable second.

McQueen also competed on two wheels and got heavily into the off-road motorbike racing circuit, risking the chance of numerous motorcycle accidents in his relentless and gutsy pursuit of glory. Such was the impact he made on the sport that in 1976 he was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Steve McQueen's fast-paced life ended abruptly and tragically in November 1980 after suffering a heart attack following surgery for the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma. It was a terrible way to go for one of the world's greatest actors, but his love of bikes and that eternally unforgettable scene from The Great Escape means he will always be remembered as a true motorcycling legend.

You might not be Steve McQueen and you don't need to have been fleeing the Gestapo on a stolen Triumph, but if you've suffered your own motorbike accident then we can help.

Here at BP365 we're the motorcycle accident experts and we know just how to get you back on the road as quickly as possible following a non-fault crash. Whether it's repairs you need, a replacement bike or even a new helmet or leathers, we can sort it all out.

We can even help you make a no win, no fee accident compensation claim for any personal injuries you've suffered and the best bit about our service is that it's absolutely free.

That's right, the whole thing won't cost you a single penny, so get on the phone today and give the motorbike accident experts a call on 0800 0925 365.