4rd Annual Steve McQueen Days - April 23 and 24, 2010

Slater hosts Fourth Annual Steve McQueen Day Festival April 23 and 24
Sharon Farrell	Chris Noel	Two of Steve McQueen's leading ladies will take top billing for an upcoming annual festival devoted to “The King of Cool.” Actresses Sharon Farrell and Chris Noel, who starred with McQueen in a pair of comedies, will be two of the featured guests at the fourth annual Steve McQueen Day festival in Slater, Missouri on April 24, 2010. This year's festival will mark what would have been the actor's 80th birthday. “I'm so honored to be a part of this festival because Steve McQueen was not only a good friend, but a hero of mine,” Farrell said, who was McQueen's leading lady in 1969's The Reivers. Farrell has more than a hundred acting credits and in addition to McQueen, worked with several Hollywood luminaries including Clint Eastwood, Andy Griffith, Kirk Douglas, James Garner, Bruce Lee and Patrick Dempsey.

Chris Noel, who co-starred with McQueen in 1963's Soldier in the Rain,, also appeared in Girl Happy with Elvis Presley. She is known to military veterans around the world for her Armed Forces Radio Show, A Date with Chris (1967-1971). Vietnam veterans continued to be her life's work long after the war. Today she is the the president and co-founder of Vetsville Cease Fire House, a nonprofit charity in Florida provide homeless veterans with food, shelter and job placement.

Other special guests include Pat Johnson, Loren Janes and Marshall Terrill. Johnson, an eighth degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, was McQueen's personal friend and karate instructor. Janes was McQueen's stuntman and worked with the action star from his television western series, Wanted: Dead or Alive to the last film he made, The Hunter . Terrill is the author of three books on the actor. His latest effort, Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool , will make its debut at the festival.

The festivities will take place on Main Street in Slater, Missouri, the boyhood home of the movie icon. Slater is located in the heart of central Missouri on 240 highway, just 13 miles from Marshall.

The festival will include an opening reception dinner on Friday, April 23 at Maxine's Tea House in Slater. Saturday's highlights will include a classic car show, motorcycle events and drawing, presentations by Johnson and Janes, a panel discussion with Farrell and Noel, a film festival, a Missouri Wine tasting event and a beer garden. Food and souvenir vendors will also be on hand for what promises to be a fun-filled event.

For more information on the Steve McQueen Day Festival, call (660) 529-227 or (660) 529-2249, or visit www.cityofslater.com.

Chris Noel photographed by Louis Galanos.