1963: A year in the life of Steve McQueen It’s easy to say that McQueen was and still is the quintessential king of cool but it’s easy forget that he was a pretty simple man living an extraordinary life. 1963 found McQueen at the top of his game and living a life that must have seemed out of one of his films. Following are excerpts from Life magazines pictorial of a year with the king. Images that seem to become cooler and more iconic the further we are removed from McQueen’s death in 1980. At his bungalow in Palm Springs, Steve McQueen practices his aim before heading out for a shooting session in the desert, 1963. Steve McQueen driving on Sunset Strip, 1963. Steve McQueen and Neile Adams, his first wife, target-practice with their pistols in the California desert, 1963. Steve McQueen and Neile Adams, his first wife, in the California desert, 1963. McQueen works out at the gym at Paramount Pictures while making the movie Love With the Proper Stranger opposite Natalie Wood, 1963. At his Palm Springs bungalow, Steve McQueen puts on a record, with LPs by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Frank Sinatra scattered at his feet, 1963. Steve McQueen takes a lunch break during a motorcycle race with Bud Ekins, his friend and stuntman for The Great Escape, 1963. McQueen takes a deep swig of a tall, cool drink, 1963. Steve McQueen on a camping trip, 1963. Steve McQueen in his sleeping bag on a camping trip, 1963. “This is it, man,” he told LIFE. “I’d rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth.” Steve McQueen, 1963. With his dog, a Malamute named Mike, by his side, Steve McQueen takes in the scenery, California, 1963. All images courtesy of Life/Getty