Cosmetics Meets Cool At Kiehl’s
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Nearly three decades after Steve McQueen’s untimely death, a new book about the “King of Cool” is hitting the shelves. Filled with personal anecdotes and photos, “Steve McQueen, the Last Mile” (Dalton Watson Fine Books, 240 pages, $49) is written by McQueen’s widow, the former model Barbara McQueen, and Marshall Terrill. The coffee-table book includes 150 candid pictures, many taken by Ms. McQueen between 1977 and 1980, the year McQueen died from a form of lung cancer.
The photos tell the story of a regular guy who shunned Hollywood. In one picture, McQueen, wearing a bomber jacket and scarf, drinks a cup of coffee at the Santa Paula (Calif.) Airport. In another, a scruffy and bearded McQueen, wearing blue jeans and a cowboy hat, is snapped midstride next to a yellow pickup truck.
McQueen was an auto and motorcycle aficionado whose famous motorcycle leap in “The Great Escape” and car chase in “Bullitt” are some of cinema’s classic moments. He was introduced to vintage motorcycles by Aaron Morse, the late president of the Kiehl’s Since 1851 line of skin care and a second-generation owner of the company.
Tomorrow between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Ms. McQueen and Mr. Terrill will be at the Kiehl’s flagship store to sign copies of and discuss “Steve McQueen, the Last Mile.” One of McQueen’s old bikes, a 1934 Indian Suicide Shift, will be on display at the signing. Kiehl’s Pharmacy, 109 Third Ave., between 13th and 14th streets, 212-677-3171.
