Chad McQueen, 'Karate Kid' actor, dies at 63

Chad McQueen, best known for his role as “Dutch” in the “Karate Kid” movie franchise and son of actor Steve McQueen, died Wednesday at his home in Palm Desert, California. He is 63 years old.

His family announced his death in a post on social media, including a photo of him as a boy with his famous father. His longtime attorney and friend, Arthur Barens, said organ failure was the cause.

Chad McQueen has been an actor, producer and other roles in more than 25 films and television shows, but he is best known for his role as Dutch in the 1984 teen classic “The Karate Kid”.

As Dutch, Mr. McQueen played Cobra Kai Dojo, a mean, trouble-making jerk who runs into Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his gang, showing no mercy and jumping up and down in excitement when they brutally beat up Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in Halloween. at night

He reprized the role of Dutch in the 1986 sequel, “The Karate Kid Part II”.

Mr. McQueen has appeared in other films, including “New York Cop,” a 1993 action film about a Japanese detective living in the United States illegally; and “Red Line,” a 1995 thriller about a car thief who is blackmailed.

But Mr. McQueen didn't stay in Hollywood long after that, and he followed in his father's footsteps by switching back to auto racing.

“I was surrounded by two things: film and motorsports, and motorsports always seemed to fascinate me more,” Mr. McQueen said in a June 2017 interview with FlickFeast, a film-related website. He described his father's love of cars as so contagious that “it screwed me up for life.”

Mr. McQueen competed in events including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2010, he founded McQueen Racing, a company that manufactures high-performance cars and motorcycles.

Mr. McQueen was seriously injured in February 2006 while practicing for the Rolex 24 event at Daytona International Speedway. He was in a coma for about a month, and broke his neck, leg, arm, ribs and suffered a collapsed lung, he told The Sunday Times in a June 2017 interview.

“Would I change anything? No, I wouldn't. Motor sport is the strongest drug in the world,” Mr McQueen said in a 2017 interview.

Chadwick Steven McQueen was born on December 28, 1960 in Los Angeles. Her father, Steve McQueen, was the highest-paid movie star of the 1960s and 1970s, and her mother, Neale Adams, was a Filipino American actress, singer, and dancer. He grew up in Southern California.

Chad McQueen's first film credit was as a skateboarder in the 1978 film “Skateboard”, considered the first feature film about the skateboarding craze of the 1970s. His other film credits include “Hadley's Rebellion,” a 1983 drama about a small-town boy's passion for wrestling; “Fever Pitch,” a 1985 drama about a famous sportswriter who becomes a compulsive gambler while investigating the matter; and “Surface to Air,” a 1998 action film about two brothers, one in the Navy and the other a Marine, who travel to the Persian Gulf to stop a coup.

He also appeared in television, including “V” (1984); “Jesse Hawkes” (1989); “Search and Rescue” (1994); and “Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool” (2005).

He is survived by his first wife, actress Stacey Totten, with whom he had one child, Steven McQueen, an actor known for his roles in television series including “The Vampire Diaries” and “Chicago Fire”; and his second wife, Ginny; with whom he had a son, Chase, and a daughter, Madison.