Barbara Minty (born June 11, 1953), also known as Barbara Minty McQueen, is a former fashion model who was the third wife and widow of American film star

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

Biography

Minty was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, and spent several years growing up in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

, graduating from

Corvallis High School Corvallis High School may refer to: *Corvallis High School (California) *Corvallis High School (Montana) *Corvallis High School (Oregon) Corvallis High School (CHS) is a four-year public secondary school in Corvallis, Oregon. Originally estab ...

in 1971. Minty was signed with power modeling agents

Eileen Ford Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to: People Artists *Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer *Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer *Eileen ...

and Nina Blanchard and became an in-demand model, gracing the covers of dozens of magazines as well as advertisements in the 1970s. McQueen saw Minty's photo in an advertisement and had his agent arrange a meeting with her. After dating for a few months, they were married on January 16, 1980, and she was by his side until his death. She is the author of a book about their time together, ''Steve McQueen – The Last Mile''. In 2012, Minty joined forces with the

Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is a nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to preventing asbestos exposure, eliminating asbestos-related diseases such as mesothelioma, and protecting asbestos victims' civil rights through ...

in the fight to ban

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

, which may have caused the cancer that killed her husband.

References

American biographers Living people 1953 births People from Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis High School (Oregon) alumni Writers from Seattle Female models from Oregon American women biographers 21st-century American women {{US-bio-writer-stub