Before Steve McQueen Became A Hollywood Legend He Starred In ‘Wanted: Dead Or Alive’

Before Steve McQueen became a Hollywood Superstar (and now a Hollywood Legend) starring in movie hits like 'The Thomas Crowne Affair', 'The Sand Pebbles', 'Papillion' and 1968's mega-hit 'Bullitt', he was on our television screens each week in black and white.

Remember 'Wanted: Dead or Alive'?

It was one of what seemed like a hundred Westerns on television at the time.  You think the so-called 'reality' shows dominate your television now?  Well, in the late 1950's and early 1960's, it was Westerns that ruled the tube.

'Bonanza', 'Gunsmoke', 'Big Valley', 'Rifleman', 'Maverick', and so many more.  One of those 'so many more' was 'Wanted: Dead or Alive'.

While the show was not as big a hit (and is not as well remembered) as some of the other classics, it was somewhat of a hit in it's own right.

Over 90 episodes aired between 1958-1961.  The bounty hunter role McQueen played was the beginning of the 'anti-hero' image that he parlayed into a hugely successful career in his later films.

And you know what?  Steve McQueen was just, well, cool.  Whatever 'it' is, Steve McQueen had 'it'.  The ladies loved him because he was a little dangerous and the men liked him because, well, he was a little dangerous.

Steve McQueen left the planet way, way too early at the age of 50 in 1980, a victim of cancer.  But his movies, and his TV series, live on in re-runs.