Over the decades, there's been more than a few movie stars spotted around Whitefish.

By TOM LAWRENCE

For The Pilot

Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland were all Whitefish regulars. Julia Roberts was often spotted in the 'Fish. But none of them reported being run out of town by the cops.

However, an earlier Hollywood superstar, Steve McQueen, had that very experience, according to his widow.

Barbara Minty McQueen was plugging her new book, "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile," on The Late Show With David Letterman on March 13 when she shared a story about Whitefish.

Barbara said the couple was in Whitefish several times more than a quarter century ago, and they were run out of town by the police.

She told Letterman, who owns land near Choteau and spends quite a bit of time there with his family, that police were told there was an older, scruffy man with a young girl, and he was flashing several hundred dollar bills.

It happened sometime in the late 1970s. Barbara McQueen was married to the legendary rebel actor for three years before he died in 1980.

According to an entry on the PR-inside.com Web site:

"Writing in her memoirs 'Steve McQueen, The Last Mile,' McQueen's widow Barbara reveals he was often stopped by police in the small town of Whitefish, Montana, because of his unusual lifestyle.

"The widow recalls, 'He looked like a dirty old man. He had long, wild hair, a thick, untamed beard and looked much older than his 48 years. I was 25 years old but looked like a schoolgirl he'd abducted in his crappy pick-up truck.

'More than once, people stopped us to ask if I was OK. We were buying gas and beer, and Steve paid for everything with $100 bills, which looked even more suspicious. The police came and questioned us, and ran us out of town. But they never knew it was Steve McQueen.'"

She told much the same story to Letterman, and the late-night host was delighted by the tale.

"I'm going to Whitefish," he said.

Barbara McQueen was an Oregon farm-girl who became a model before she met the movie actor.

She shot hundreds of photos of their adventures from 1977 through 1980, a time when the actor had turned his back on Hollywood, rode motorcycles, flew antique planes, drank Old Milwaukee beer, wore grungy clothes and traveled around the U.S. in vintage pickups.

"Steve McQueen, The Last Mile," 240 pages, hardcover, contains about 150 color photos from that time period and sells for $95.