Terence Patrick O'Neill (30 July 1938 – 16 November 2019) was a British photographer, known for documenting the fashions, styles, and celebrities of the 1960s. O'Neill's photographs capture his subjects candidly or in unconventional settings. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions. He was awarded an honorary fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

in 2004 and the society's

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2011. His work is held in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Life and career

O'Neill was born to Irish parents in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Essex, and began his career working in a photographic unit for an airline at London's

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

. During this time, he photographed a sleeping figure in a waiting area who, by happenstance, was revealed to be

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politici ...

. O'Neill thereafter found further employment on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

with '' The Daily Sketch'' in 1959. His first professional job was to photograph

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

. During the 1960s, in addition to photographing contemporary celebrities such as

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, he also photographed members of the

British royal family The British royal family comprises Charles III and other members of his family. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a member, although the Royal Household has issued different lists outlining who is considere ...

and prominent politicians, showing a more human side to these subjects than had usually been portrayed—his photographs capture his subjects candidly or in unconventional settings. O'Neill's photographs of

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

are among his best known. A selection of them appeared in the 2008 book ''Eltonography''. Also considered among his most famous images"Faye Dunaway, "Oscar Ennui""
background information published by the San Francisco Art Exchange. Accessed 28 January 2007. are a series of American actress

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, ...

(his girlfriend at the time) at dawn on 29 March 1977, lounging next to the swimming pool at the

Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and ...

the morning after winning the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

for ''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

'', with several newspapers scattered around her and her Oscar statuette prominently shown on a table beside her breakfast tray. The series was photographed in both colour and black and white. O'Neill was credited (as Terrence O'Neill) as an executive producer of the film ''

Mommie Dearest ''Mommie Dearest'' is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of Academy Award winning actress Joan Crawford. Officially released by William Morrow and Company on November 10, 1978 (though thousands of copies ha ...

'' (1981). His only other film credit was for still photography for the opera film ''

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

'' (1987).

Personal life

O'Neill was married to the actress Vera Day for 13 years; they had two children together, Keegan Alexander and Sarah Jane. He had a decade-long relationship with Faye Dunaway; they were married for five years in the 1980s and had a son, Liam. In 2003, he was quoted in the US tabloid magazine ''

Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

'' as saying Liam was adopted and not their biological son, contrary to Dunaway's public assertions. In 2001 O'Neill married Laraine Ashton, a former model agency executive. O'Neill died on 16 November 2019 at his home in London from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

, at the age of 81.

Exhibitions

*''Terry O'Neill: Celebrity,''

, 2003/4 *''Photographs by Terry O'Neill'', San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco, CA, 2005 *''Kings and Queens: Photographs by Terry O'Neill'', San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco, CA, 2007 *''Chairman of the Board, Knight of the Realm: Photographs of

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and Sir

'', San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco, CA, 2009 *Getty Image Gallery, the Village, Westfield London, London, 2009. A retrospective. *Leeds Gallery, Munro House, Leeds, UK, 2011. A retrospective. *''Terry O'Neill's Rock & Roll Opus'', San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco, CA, 2014 *''Terry O'Neill: Stars'',

Fotografiska Fotografiska (Swedish for “photographic”) is one of the most successful photography museums worldwide, dedicated to inspiring a more conscious world through the power of photography, art, and culture. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, Fotograf ...

, Stockholm, 2022 *''Famous by Terry O'Neill'', Fotomuseum aan het Vrijthof, Maastricht, 2023. Curated by Feiko Koster.

Books

*''Legends.'' Jonathan Cape, 1985. *''Celebrity.'' Little, Brown, 2003. *''Sinatra: Frank and Friendly- A Unique Photographic Memoir of a Legend.'' Evans Mitchell, 2007. *''Eltonography: Sir Elton John a Life in Pictures.'' Evans Mitchell, 2008. *''All About Bond.'' Evans Mitchell, 2012. *''Terry O'Neill'', 2013. *''Terry O'Neill's Rock 'n' Roll Album.'' ACC, 2014. *''Two Days That Rocked the World: Elton John Live at Dodger Stadium.'' ACC, 2015. *''Breaking Stones 1963–1965: A Band on the Brink of Superstardom.'' ACC, 2016. *''Terry O'Neill: Every Picture Tells a Story.'' ACC, 2016. *''When Ziggy Played The Marquee.'' ACC, 2017. *''Led Zeppelin Live : 1975–1977.'' ACC, 2018. *''Terry O'Neill: Rare & Unseen.'' ACC, 2018. *''Bowie by O'Neill: The definitive collection with unseen images.'' Cassell, 2019. *''Elton John by Terry O'Neill: The definitive portrait, with unseen images.'' Cassell, 2019. *''Always Audrey: Six Iconic Photographers. One Legendary Star.'' ACC, 2019.

Honours and awards

*2004: Honorary Fellowship of the

*2011: Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal *2019: Appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to photography

Collections

: 80 prints (as of July 2022 )

References

External links

"Photographer Terry O'Neill: a life in pictures"
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 2019 *
"Terry O' Neill: Celebrity"
at

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool in Merseyside, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The mu ...

Millenia Fine Art, article and photographsBBC News — Terry O'Neill: Capturing celebrity

Terry O'Neill: Capturing Iconic Moments

5 Contemporary Artists Inspired by Music

Fame Game: The Relationship Between Artist and Celebrity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Terry 1938 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English artists 21st-century English artists Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Deaths from prostate cancer in England Photographers from London Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society People from Romford