“The Karate Kid” actor Chad McQueen, the only son of Hollywood legend and racing driver Steve McQueen, died on Wednesday. He was 63 years old.
The father of three passed from organ failure at his Palm Desert home after never fully recovering from injuries he sustained in a fall in 2020, his longtime friend and attorney told The Hollywood Reporter and The New York Times.
A post signed by McQueen’s wife, Jeanie, and their two children, Madison and Chase, on the actor’s Instagram page asked for privacy as they “remember and celebrate his extraordinary life.” McQueen is also survived by a son from a former marriage, Steven, who is known for acting in “The Vampire Diaries.”
His remarkable journey as a loving father to us, along with his unwavering commitment to our mother, truly exemplified a life filled with love and dedication,” the Instagram post read. “His passion for racing not only highlighted his exceptional talent but also served as a way to honor his father’s legacy, a testament to the values instilled in him. He passed his passion, knowledge and dedication down to us, and we will continue not only his legacy but our grandfathers as well.”
The surviving child of the late Steve McQueen and Filipino actress Neile Adams — his older sister, Terry, died of respiratory failure at age 38 in 1998 — McQueen followed in his father’s footsteps as an actor who, at one point, left the public eye to focus on racing. But while his father, once the world’s highest-paid actor, only took a hiatus from acting to compete in motorcycle racing, McQueen retired from entertainment altogether to commit to it.
His run in Hollywood, however, kicked off in 1984, when he was cast as the antagonist, Dutch, in “The Karate Kid” and went on to reprise the role in “The Karate Kid Part II.” He went on to produce or star in projects like “Martial Law,” “Death Ring” and “Red Line” before retiring from acting after a 2001 role.
RELATED STORY | James Earl Jones, legendary actor and voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, dies at 93
He then competed in various forms of racing for years before a 2006 accident ended his career. But in 2010, he founded McQueen Racing, a custom car and motorcycle company now run by Chase and Madison, according to its website.
Jon Hurwitz, one of the creators behind Netflix’s “Karate Kid” series “Cobra Kai,” said in a post on X that McQueen almost reprised his role as Dutch in the show but “his racing injuries limited his capabilities.”
“Dutch may have been the purest Cobra of them all. Merciless and dangerous through and through. That’s what we loved about him. And it was all because of Chad McQueen’s performance,” Hurwitz wrote. “The fandom mourns a Karate Kid legend today.”
