BARBARA MINTY (STEVE'S WIFE) ON MCQUEEN!

Steve and Barbara Out on the Bike

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BARBARA MINTY: " I first met Steve when I went to Los Angeles and I got a call from my agent that Steve McQueen wanted to see me for a part in his movie as his Indian Guide---which I've never acted before in my life. So, It was kind of goofy. The way I got it, he saw a picture of me and it was for a Bahamas ad or something and he called to find out who I was and how to get me there. And it was just---instant attraction. We went to dinner that night, and took a road trip! So, that was the beginning of it. I knew him more as a person than an actor. And when he acted and he'd read his lines, I'd laugh and have to go into the other room. Cause I thought, "This guy gets paid how much to do that?"

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"When we got married, you could tell that he wasn't feeling well. But, I mean everyone gets the Flu. So, we found this beautiful, beautiful little house in the country, planted a bunch of trees and bred horses. I loved living in the (airplane) hangar. (Steve had an airplane hangar where he stored all of his antique motorcycles, and toys along with his plane). That was so wonderful. You'd lay in bed and click a button and the front of the hangar would open up. And you could watch the planes come in and out with your coffee, go fly a plane. Steve liked to hold court. He'd have his chair. And everybody just come around. But I think he just really wanted to experience life and I think he knew that there was something going wrong. So, he was going to take as much advantage of his life as he could.

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"He was acting very strangely and he went for a really long motorcycle ride. And I found him on a hill, thinking. And I said, "Honey, you have got to go in (to the hospital). Let's just go in and you know, just get it checked and X-rayed" . They did the biopsy and they found that it was Mesothelioma Cancer and they didn't give him very long to live. He said to me, "Well, you want to go live in the desert and spend it, or do ya want to get better?" I said, "Try to get better". So, he tried. He tried really, really hard. He really did.

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"We went to the alternative medicine clinic. It was in Rosa Rita Beach. They did all sorts of weird things to him. In hindsight, I wouldn't have done it again with him, but he just went through it and he did really well. It just didn't work. He was very positive, very strong. And I think he had a visitor one night who sat on his shoulder and talked to him and said, "You have this way, or this way off the fence". One day he just said, "That's it. That's it". And it just broke my heart.

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"For me, the whole four years was just the most beautiful learning experience. And it was a gift. He was a great teacher and a beautiful man. And I loved him very much".

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