Notes
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 movie starring Steve
McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two
Academy Awards and a remake was released in 1999 starring
Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo (in the remake, Faye
Dunaway also appears as Thomas Crown's therapist).
Following the wrapping of the filming of the movie, Steve
McQueen received the bronze statute of Don Quixote that
was prominently displayed in Thomas Crown?s office as
a prop. McQueen maintained a suite at the Beverly Hills
Hotel and one of the few personal belongings that he
kept in the suite was this bronze statute. The Don Quixote
bronze had a special meaning to him, not simply because it
reminded him of the filming of the movie, but as McQueen
explained to Jimmy Brucker, it was him, "the Actor." Don
Quixote was a common man who unknowingly created a
hero persona amongst his public. It is not easy living up
to a public persona and McQueen encountered this every
day of his life. Jimmy Brucker visited McQueen?s suite at
the Beverly Hills Hotel and once he saw the Don Quixote
bronze, being a collector of bronze statutes, he told
McQueen that he had to have it. After some heavy negotiation
and Brucker having to repeatedly sweeten the deal
by adding more memorabilia that McQueen wanted, the
Don Quixote bronze was his. Jimmy Brucker has kept the
bronze for over twenty years in his personal collection. The
bronze is signed at the base ?Machault Fils? and stands 34
inches tall.