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 one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

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 housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Life and career

O'Neill was born to Irish parents in

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

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

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. 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, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

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 politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

. O'Neill thereafter found further employment on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was n ...

with ''

The Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton. It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers, but in 1925 Rothermere sold it to William and Gomer Be ...

'' 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 who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

. 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. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

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

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...

, he also photographed members of the British royal family 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, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

are among his best known. A selection of them appeared in the 2008 book ''Eltonography''. Also considered among his most famous images"About the Art"
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 many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

(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, Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Cinema of the ...

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 is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

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 Mathematic ...

'', 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 actress Joan Crawford. Published in 1978, it attracted much controversy for its portrayal of Joan Crawford as a cruel, unbalanced, and alcoholic m ...

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

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

'' (1987).

Personal life

O'Neill was married to the actress

Vera Day Vera Day (born 4 August 1935) is an English film and television actress. She was born in London just before the war and grew up in Forest Gate, East London. Early career Leaving school at 15, she had various jobs before finding employment in ...

for 13 years; they had two children together, Keegan Alexander and Sarah Jane. He had a long-term relationship with Faye Dunaway; they were married for four years in the 1980s and had a son, Liam. In 2003, he was quoted in the U.S. tabloid magazine ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

'' 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 cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

, at the age of 81.

Exhibitions

*''Terry O'Neill: Legends,'' Hamilton's Gallery, London, 1995 *''Terry O'Neill: Celebrity,''

, 2003/4 *Getty Image Gallery, the Village,

Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the W ...

, London, 2009. A retrospective. *

San Francisco Art Exchange San Francisco Art Exchange LLC is an art gallery in San Francisco, California, United States, founded in 1983. The gallery first rose to prominence through its role in establishing the work of pinup artist Alberto Vargas as fine art. Less than a ...

, San Francisco, CA, 2009. Photographs of

and

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...

. *''Terry O'Neill, Reworked,'' 2010. Six artists were given their choice of the photographer's imagery to ''re-work'' as they wished. *Leeds Gallery, Munro House, Leeds, UK, 2011. A retrospective. *Ransom Art Gallery, London, 2016. O'Neill's David Bowie photographs coinciding with the publication of ''Bowie By O'Neill.'' Travelled to Mouche Gallery, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, 2011. *Iconic Images Gallery, London, 2018. Rare and Unseen. *''Terry O'Neill: Stars'',

Fotografiska Fotografiska is a centre for contemporary photography in the Södermalm district of Stockholm, Sweden that was founded by brothers Jan and Per Broman and opened on 21 May 2010. In March 2021, it merged with NeueHouse and is operated by Yoram Roth ...

, Stockholm, 2022

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 contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(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'' *
National Museums Liverpool, articleMillenia Fine Art, article and photographsBBC News — Terry O'Neill: Capturing 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 Photographers from London Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society People from Romford Deaths from cancer in England