Mug Shot of Steve McQueen in Anchorage, Alaska, 1972

In 1972, Steve McQueen was arrested for drunk driving in Anchorage, Alaska. According to witnesses, the movie star raced through town in a rented Oldsmobile Toronado. When Police finally managed to pull him over and perform a sobriety test, he failed by somersaulting down the white line, on which he was ordered to walk.

“McQueen was roaring up and down 4th Avenue at very high speed and turning brodies – drunker than hell,” said Lynn Burlingame, who was in Anchorage at the time. “It was not just a time or two – he really raised hell for quite a while. When they did finally get him stopped they administered a field sobriety test, and he somersaulted down the white line. Once they got him arrested it was a pretty good time – sort of an autograph party in handcuffs.”

Mug shot taken following arrest of actor Steve McQueen in Anchorage, Alaska, 1972.

This photo was most likely printed at the Police Station at the time of his arrest, and was personalized to the people he was drinking/partying with before his arrest, and/or the arresting officers. McQueen posted bail and left town. He was later convicted in absentia for reckless driving but not drunk driving.

The Anchorage Daily News, in an article on their Alaska State Trooper Museum, writes: “Historical photographs tell many of the stories. They start the minute you walk in the door with the mug shot and arrest record of actor Steve McQueen, who got busted for doing “brodies” in an Oldsmobile Toronado in downtown Anchorage in 1972. McQueen, with a ding on his nose, is looking mighty ragged after his night on the town here, a raggedness exceeded only by his seismographic signature.”