Yes. He was considered the King of Cool.
He had a rough upbringing and that gave him an edgy look. Women audiences liked
his rugged looks and men liked his Alpha male persona. He did a lot of his own
stunts on film before it was common.

Steve McQueen
was the definition of an A-lister. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, he was a major
box office draw and one of the highest-paid film stars on earth. The dude has been
dead for over 40 years and he’s still called “the king of cool”.

At the peak of his career, Steve McQueen was
the world’s highest-paid movie star and undisputedly the most popular cinematic
figure after the success of blockbusters like The Sand Pebbles, The Great Escape, Bullit, Papillon, The Towering Inferno and The Thomas Crown Affair.

It was McQueen who introduced the concept of
“Pay or Play” when signing a movie as he didn’t appear on screen for 4 years
post THE TOWERING INFERNO, yet he was able to fund his retirement by the
formula that if producers approached him and he accepted, he would take his
market fee of US$ 3 million outright (apart from a share of the profits later)
and if he rejected, he’d still keep half of his market fee. Yet such was his
popularity, studios didn’t mind coz for them, McQueen giving some
“consideration” to the film was itself its a biggest marketing success.

Even after
his tragic death in 1980, McQueen’s estate continues to earn at least US$ 50
million every year. In short, even in demise, he’s still a Hollywood superstar
in all respect.