Actor Steve McQueen first earned widespread attention in 1958, with his starring roles in the sci-fi classic The Blob and the TV western Wanted: Dead or Alive. One of the most popular film stars of the 1960s and 1970s, he was known for his rugged good looks and cool, tough-guy persona, highlighted in such films as The Great Escape (1963), Bullitt (1968), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and The Getaway (1972). Diagnosed with cancer in 1979, McQueen died on November 7, 1980, in Mexico.