24.06.09

Terry O'Neill Interview

Bridget Bardot

Terry O'Neill began his career working for daily newspapers in London in the early sixties.

He gave up working as a jazz drummer to become an air steward, but found himself rubbing shoulders with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and photographing the emerging British stars of 'Swinging London'.

A chance encounter with the Hollywood photographer Sam Shaw, took him to Hollywood and his career as a celebrity portrait photographer rocketed, as he was introduced to and began photographing actors such as Steve McQueen, Fred Astaire, Clint Eastwood, Ava Gardner, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Frank Sinatra amongst many others.

His initial meeting with Sinatra led to a thirty year photographic relationship and friendship. 

His work has featured in books and exhibitions throughout his career and many of his images have become iconic statements on celebrity culture.

I have worked with Terry on many occasions as an art director and our conversation in his South London home on a warm summer afternoon was relaxed and informal.

Terry is a great storyteller and his recollections of specific shoots are vivid and filled with information and detail. 

In this conversation recorded on 15-06-2009 Terry was talking with Professional Photographer Editor Grant Scott

Use the player below to listen to the interview...

...or if you would like to download the interview, right click over the link below and select 'Save target as', select a suitable place on your computer to save the file and click ok. The download will then begin.

TerryONeill.mp3

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  1. Really enjoyed this interview, an amazing guy!

    Comment made by: joingle
    24.06.09 22:10:23

  2. What a great interview!
    Grant just captured the man, no frills, no edits, just good old fashioned quality journalistic interviewing.

    When I was a young drummer in 1960, I was in a rock group and we had a photo session for 'Rock Across The Channel'. Someone was promoting this event where bands played on a ferry boat and people paid to go on board and ended up in France, then the bands would play everyone back home! As it happens, it had all the publicity but it never really happened.
    Terry came down t

    Comment made by: Magone
    22.08.09 18:05:30


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