From Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel by Marshall Terrill: McQueen mentioned the occult in an interview, dated October 21, 1980, with a professor at UCLA named Brugh Joy, not long before McQueen passed away.
Joy: There’s an area we need to pick up before I forget, because it keeps coming in my mid. That is, at one time, Steve, you went into the occult. Is that right? Did you go into any sort of...
McQueen: I was on the ring of it. Jay Sebring was my best friend. Sharon Tate was a girlfriend of mine. I dated Sharon for a while. I was sure taken care of; my name never got drawn into that mess. He [Sebring] was having an affair with the girlfriend of a warlock. It may be for the worse, but I was always against it. I was one of the ones who felt that I was one of the good guys, but boy I tell you, they did a number on me. I’m against that whole thing.
Joy: I know you are. The whole impact of what it means to you and what it meant to you, even then. There’s a subconscious area that was attracted into the circle.
McQueen: Oh sure.
Joy: And it comes out of the power element of it.
McQueen: Not for me. It was the women, and the dope, and the running around. That’s all that was.
Langer: There’s women, and dope, and running around in many circles. There was something that intrigued you.
McQueen: But I didn’t know it was the occult. It’s bullshit is what it is. No, I really didn’t know what it was, and by the time I did, I had never gone to any of the meetings. Never knew anything about it and was always against it. It was never for me.
