Greater St. Louis is the area of Missouri and Illinois that surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis. Depending on the counties included in the area, it can refer to the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or the St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL combined statistical area (CSA). Included in the MSA is the city of St. Louis; the Southern Illinois counties of Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair, which are collectively known as the Metro East; the Missouri counties of Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis County (separate from and not inclusive of the city of St. Louis), Warren Washington, and part of Crawford County. The CSA includes all of the MSA listed above and the Farmington, MO micropolitan statistical area, which includes Washington County, Missouri and Saint Francois County, Missouri. The CSA was the 16th largest in the United States in 2010, with a population of 2,878,255, while the MSA was the 18th largest in the country with a population of 2,812,896.

St. Louis /seɪnt ˈluːɪs/ (French: Saint-Louis or St-Louis, [sɛ̃ lwi] ( listen)) is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States, and is the second-largest city in the state. With a population of 318,069 in July 2011, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population of 2,812,896 is the 18th-largest in the country. The Greater St. Louis combined statistical area's (CSA) population of 2,878,255 is the 16th-largest CSA in the country, the fourth-largest in the Midwest. The Greater St. Louis area is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri.

The city of St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, and after the Louisiana Purchase, it became a major port on the Mississippi River. Its population expanded after the American Civil War, and it became the fourth-largest city in the United States in the late 19th century. It seceded from St. Louis County in March 1877, allowing it to become an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Olympic Games. The city's population peaked in 1950, then began a long decline that reversed only at the beginning of the 21st century.

Terrence Stephen "Steve" McQueen (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980) was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Sand Pebbles. His other popular films include The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon, and The Towering Inferno. In 1974, he became the highest-paid movie star in the world. Although McQueen was combative with directors and producers, his popularity put him in high demand and enabled him to command large salaries.

He was an avid racer of both motorcycles and cars. While he studied acting, he supported himself partly by competing in weekend motorcycle races and bought his first motorcycle with his winnings. He is recognized for performing many of his own stunts, but one of the most widely claimed and cherished examples of this—that he did the majority of the stunt driving for his character during the high-speed chase scene in Bullitt—was revealed not to be true by his most trusted stuntman and stunt driver Loren James.

Crahan Denton (born Arthur Denton, March 20, 1914 – December 4, 1966) was an American stage and television actor.

He was born in Seattle, Washington, United States.

From 1945 until his death in 1966, Denton starred in many films, including The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery, The Parent Trap, Birdman of Alcatraz, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Bus Riley's Back in Town. He was also a guest star on many television shows, including Bonanza, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, and The Fugitive.

In 1960, he also co-starred in an unsold pilot titled, "Mountain Man" about a Rocky Mountain fur trading station in the 1840s.

In 1966, Denton died after suffering a heart attack in Piedmont, California.