His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the s , made him a top box-office draw for his films of the s and s. He was nicknamed the " King of Cool " and used the alias Harvey Mushman in motor races. In , McQueen became the highest-paid movie star in the world, although he did not act in film for another four years.
He was combative with directors and producers, but his popularity placed him in high demand and enabled him to command the largest salaries.
As the Great Depression worsened, McQueen and his grandparents moved in with Lillian's brother Claude and his family at their farm in Slater. Claude gave McQueen a red tricycle on his fourth birthday, a gift that McQueen subsequently credited with sparking his early interest in car racing.
His great-uncle Claude gave McQueen a special gift at his departure. Dyslexic and partially deaf due to a childhood ear infection, [ 7 ] McQueen did not adjust well to school or his new life. His stepfather beat him to such an extent that at the age of nine, he left home to live on the streets.
My mother didn't love me, and I didn't have a father. I thought, 'Well, I must not be very good. When McQueen was 12, Julia wrote to her uncle Claude, asking that her son be returned to her again to live in Los Angeles, where she lived with her second husband.
