Steve McQueen’s Son, ‘Karate Kid’ Star Chad McQueen, Dies at 63

Chad McQueen, ‘Karate Kid’ Star, Passes Away at 63

The enter­tain­ment world is mourn­ing the loss of Chad McQueen, the son of icon­ic actor Steve McQueen and a beloved fig­ure from the “Karate Kid” franchise. 

McQueen, who por­trayed the char­ac­ter Dutch in the orig­i­nal 1984 film and its 1986 sequel, passed away at the age of 63 on Sep­tem­ber 11, 2024.

Chad McQueen’s Successful Acting and Racing Careers

In addi­tion to his act­ing work, McQueen fol­lowed in his famous father’s foot­steps by becom­ing a pas­sion­ate race car driver. 

He even pro­duced doc­u­men­taries about his father’s life and lega­cy, includ­ing “I Am Steve McQueen” and “Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans.”

McQueen’s Family Pays Tribute to His Legacy

In a heart­felt state­ment shared on social media, McQueen’s wife Jeanie and two of his chil­dren, daugh­ter Madi­son and son Chase, hon­ored his life and com­mit­ment to his family. 

They expressed grat­i­tude for the val­ues and pas­sion he instilled in them, and vowed to con­tin­ue his lega­cy as well as that of his renowned father.

McQueen’s Acting Career and “Karate Kid” Appearance

Beyond his role as Dutch in the “Karate Kid” films, McQueen was known for his roles in movies like “Fire­pow­er” and “Sur­face to Air.” 

Fans had hoped to see him reprise his “Karate Kid” char­ac­ter in the spin-off series “Cobra Kai,” but he ulti­mate­ly declined, focus­ing instead on his auto­mo­tive com­pa­ny, McQueen Racing.

The Impact of a Tragic Car Accident

McQueen’s act­ing and rac­ing career was derailed by a near-fatal car crash in 2006 while prac­tic­ing for the Day­tona Inter­na­tion­al Speed­way’s Rolex 24 race.

The acci­dent end­ed his pro­fes­sion­al rac­ing career, and it’s believed that the lin­ger­ing effects of his injuries may have con­tributed to his recent health strug­gles and ulti­mate passing.