10 Things You Didn't Know About Steve McQueen

3. His First Starring Role Was In The Blob

McQueen had played a number of questionable roles at the beginning of his career, desperate to make his mark and hit the big time. Following an appearance in two-part TV show The Defenders in 1955, he was spotted by Hollywood manager Hilly Elkins, who decided that the best place for him was in B-Movies. After a number of background appearances, he landed his first leading role in cult classic The Blob as teenager Steve Andrews. The film received mixed reviews, but garnered McQueen yet more work, and has since become one of his most memorable performances. Admittedly though, it is odd to watch the man who would become 'The King Of Cool' fighting against an enormous jelly-like space amoeba. To McQueen's frustration, he made the mistake of accepting payment of just $3,000 for the film, instead of opting for a smaller up-front sum with a following 10% of profits after the film's release. He had been convinced the film would not perform well financially, but it went on to gross $4 million.