Born : December 28 1960
Deceased : September 11 2024
Biography Chad McQueen
Chad McQueen was born on 28 December 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and Firepower (1993). He was married to Jeanie Galbraith and Stacey Toten.
Chad inherited the passion for cars and racing from his father, the movie legend Steve McQueen. Only 9 years old, he started racing dirt bikes and, in three years, went on to win his class in the World Mini Grand Prix. He quickly moved on to auto racing, winning his first race: the Mini Le Mans event, a children-only track created on the set of the 1971 film Le Mans, when McQueen was 10 years old
Chad McQueen was involved in more than 25 movies and television shows, but he is most widely recognized for his role as Dutch in the 1984 teen classic “The Karate Kid.” As Dutch, Mr. McQueen played a mean, troublemaking bully of the Cobra Kai dojo who ran with Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his gang, showing no mercy and jumping up and down in excitement as they delivered a brutal beating to Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) on Halloween night. Chad also worked as a producer, winning a Telly Award for his documentary Filming at Speed. After his retirement from acting, he appeared as himself on various television programs related to motorsports.
Chad started his semi-professional racing career in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), and was a versatile pilot. He competed in several types of racing from Motocross to the Baja 1000. He even teamedup with Jacky Ickx and his daughter Vanina Ickx at the wheel of 3 Porsche 959s at the 2004 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Early 2006, Chad McQueen was involved in practice for the Daytona 24H in a serious accident at Daytona International Speedway, and suffered multiple rib fractures, a broken lower left leg and two fractures to his vertebrae, and multiple rib fractures. In 2007 he returned to the event to thank the people that saved his life and declared his driving days were over to become a team owner.
In 2010 he founded McQueen Racing, a company that partners with leaders in the motorcycle and custom-car industries. He visited race events all over the world, and was always happy to spend some time and share some stories.
He died on 11 September 2024 in Palm Desert, California, USA from organ failure after an accident he suffered in 2020 and from which he never fully recovered.
Pictures Tim Havermans
