Biografie

In the late 1940s and early 1950s he was, along with Dirk Bogarde, the Rank Organisation's (and the UK's) highest paid actor.

While filming Der Freibeuter (1953), Errol Flynn ran his epee through Steel's hand.

By the early 1960s, the war films that had made him famous had gone out of fashion and his career went into decline. He continued acting on TV and stage until 1989, after which he withdrew from public life. He lived in near-poverty in a council flat in Middlesex until 1997, when his agent, David Daly, tracked him down and had him admitted to Denville Hall, the actors' home in west London, where he spent the last few years of his life.

Distantly related to actor Raymond Massey.

Westlich Sansibar (1954) gave him the hit song Jambo. In 1954, British cinemagoers rated Steel and Jack Hawkins as their favourite actors.