"Never So Few" 1959. McQueen’s may be a supporting role, but his part in making this WWII romance actioner set in the jungles of Burma a consistently entertaining and engrossing affair can’t be underestimated

“The Magnificent Seven” 1960. The actor’s true breakout role came in director John Sturges’ seminal remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “The Seven Samurai.” The film contains one of McQueen most laconic, persuasive performances and remains among the finest westerns ever made.

“Hell is for Heroes” 1962. This brutal, highly adult motion picture drains every single ounce of sentimentality out of its wartime setting with McQueen superb as the hollowed out soldier whose detachment conceals an almost existential zeal for the battlefield.

“Soldier in the Rain” 1963. Peacetime Army seriocomedy about a master sergeant and his devoted friend and aide features a deceivingly in-depth narrative and fine performances from McQueen and Jackie Gleason; flopped with audiences at the time, but well worth a look.

“The Cincinnati Kid” 1965. This card shark drama was meant to capture the flavor of “The Hustler,” but its evanescent subtext was slightly ahead of its era in symbolizing America’s growing disenchantment in the 1960s; a bit of a curiosity, this character study is still incisive thanks to McQueen and his fine co-stars.

“Bullitt” 1968. McQueen’s role as a iconoclastic San Francisco police detective became iconic of the actor’s status as the “king of cool;” superbly crafted, ultra realistic in presentation and scope, the film is among the greatest cop films ever produced.

“Junior Bonner” 1972. Quiet character study about a rodeo drifter who travels home to attempt reconciliation with his estranged father is not what audiences expected from director Sam “The Wild Bunch” Peckinpah, but it is one of McQueen’s finest and most overlooked performances.

“The Getaway” 1972. This time around, viewers received what they were hoping for from both McQueen and Peckinpah in this violent chase film that veers from cool to cruel and back again; rugged, uncompromising and decidedly anti-hero in tone, it marked a highpoint in the actor’s popularity.