Terry O’Neill

The legendary 1960s photographer talks to Geoff Harris about luck, judgement and never being phased by celebrities (except for one...)

Enjoy some of Terry’s greatest work from the golden age of celebrity

You became a photographer by chance, right? Yes. I never dreamt of becoming a photographer as a kid, though I was good at drawing and had good eye for composition. I always thought photography was done by really clever people...

I was a jazz drummer when I was young, and I wanted to go to America. So I applied for a job at British Airways. They said if I took a basic job in the photographic unit, I’d stand a better chance of getting taken on as a steward. They’d give me homework, and when I was at the airport one weekend, I took this photo of a guy in a pin-stripe suit who’d fallen asleep amongst a load of African chiefs. I had no idea who it was.

It turned out to be the famous Tory politician, Rab Butler. A guy said he would send the film to his picture editor. He said he really liked the pictures, and would I like to cover the airport every Saturday? So suddenly I had another job. It was pure luck.

So how did you properly get started as a press photographer?

I was getting the pictures that nobody else got. All the press photographers were out by the steps, but I was able to get shots of movie stars having coffee inside. Brian Fogarty, the

Daily Sketch’s star photographer, asked if I’d cover the airport for him, as he was being invited onto movie sets. Sadly, Brian died three months later, and the Daily Sketch offered me his job.

I wasn’t even 21, but it was a paper for young people, and they wanted somebody young to get through to pop groups, as I was about the same age. So I went down Abbey Road and met The Beatles recording ‘Please Please Me’. That was my first job.

Another job was photographing Laurence Olivier. Wasn’t that scary for a young photographer?

I had no idea who he was. I was told to cover an event called The Night of 100 Stars in the West End. The Daily

Sketch picture editor sent me down because nobody else wanted to work on a Saturday. I covered the rehearsals, and he was there dressed as a woman, along with Kenneth More and John Mills. My pictures ran for eight pages...

What were the biggest photographic lessons you learned on the Daily Sketch?

The biggest lesson was that I didn’t want to work on papers. I did all kinds of stories, from rock stars to people being evicted, and I wanted to follow up on the people in the stories. The picture editor said, “Don’t bother, it’s yesterday’s news.”

The last straw was when I was sent to Croydon Airport to cover all the bodies coming back from this huge plane crash in Norway. It as awful. When I was on the Sketch, though, I was really driven to get my images on the coveted centre spread. I was determined and worked hard, and it made me a better photographer.

You were still very young. Didn’t you get starstruck?

No, never. The Beatles in the 1960s were the biggest thing that had ever happened in showbusiness, but we all used to meet in this club – me,

the Beatles, the Stones – and talk about what jobs we’d do when all this was over. They were convinced it was all going to come to an end in a couple of years. We used to laugh behind Mick Jagger’s back, saying, “Christ, can you imagine him on stage at 40?”

How did you end up as a celebrity photographer in the USA?

When I resigned from the Daily Sketch, the editor said: “The moment you walk out of this door, you are finished. This paper made you and without us you’ll be nothing.” I phoned all my contacts, and within a week I was back on Fleet Street as a freelancer. Then a Mirror writer wanted to take to me to the USA to photograph Hugh Hefner. I met Fred Astaire, Shirley MacClaine, everyone.

Most of the photographers in those days had plate cameras. I’d turn up with a 35mm, and be finished in half an hour. They’d be days in a studio. I’d been introduced to Canon 35mms by a photographer on the Daily Express. Although the camera cost £98 – a fortune back then – it really helped me get where I wanted to be.

Then you met Frank Sinatra...

I had an introduction from Ava Gardner, as we were friends – we’d met when I was doing publicity

shots for big Hollywood movies that were being made in Europe. The first time I saw Frank, he came around the boardwalk at this hotel, surrounded by these massive security guys.

Then I went up to him and gave him the note from Ava. Frank said, “He’s with me,” and so I was for next three weeks. We barely spoke, but he’d let me into his life and I could go anywhere with him.

You also started to experiment with more staged shots, such as Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in the swimming pool, and Raquel Welch with a crucifix. Where did you get the ideas from?

It all goes back to my days on the

Daily Sketch. It forced me to think of new ideas for shooting people. It was the same with my image of Faye Dunaway [Terry’s ex-wife – Ed] by the pool, on the morning after she’d got an Oscar. I like to recreate reality.

How did you deal with the excesses of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s?

I was never tempted by drugs. No way. I saw what they did to The Beatles. They ended up living their life by night, not by day, which as a photographer I couldn’t afford to do.

You’re known for being able to put people at their ease. Where does this skill come from?

As I said, I wasn’t particularly star-struck as a young photographer,

and when you get better known, it’s easier. You are working with your subject as equals.

You have to be like a director. People don’t just go into a room and make a great photo. You have to think up something, use your imagination.

Was anybody a pain to photograph?

Steve McQueen. I became friendly with a top LA publicist, who said he wanted me to meet Steve. Around this time, Steve was running the studio. The publicist introduced me, but Steve wasn’t happy about being photographed. While the pair of them were arguing, I got through a roll of 35mm film in about two minutes.

You’ve said you want to be known as a journalist – why didn’t you do more reportage in the 1960s?

I was working all the time, so I couldn’t do reportage work as well.

I became involved in the world of showbusiness, and that was where I worked. People didn’t offer me any wars to cover or opportunities to photograph poor kids in Africa.

The Terry O’Neill Award is now well-established. Why did you set it up?

I set up the award to keep photojournalism going. Life has packed up, as have Paris Match,

Stern, Picture Post... There are no longer any magazines out there to encourage this type of photography. We have found some really good photographers through the prize, and it continues to get bigger and bigger.

I am one of the judges, along with top picture editors from all over the world. These days, digital technology makes it much easier for us to share images in the selection process.

Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions or exciting plans?

Not really. These days, I go around the world doing lots of shows. People can get extra publicity for these shows as I’m there.

We’re taking the James Bond show [based on Terry’s book All About

Bond] to Hong Kong in November. In addition, I’ve done a book on an Elton John concert, and I am off to promote that in Los Angeles.

Opposite “On my first job for the DailySketch, I was sent down to Abbey Road Studios and there was a group called the Beatles recording ‘Please Please Me’, their first hit. The pictures are so naïve. I just got them outside with their guitars, and Ringo with a cymbal. It was the only thing I could think of… That was the start of my career.”

Top and above People at the paper asked me, ‘Who’s going to be the next big pop group?’ I said, ‘The Rolling Stones.’ I went to photograph them and the newspaper editors were horrified. They thought they looked like five prehistoric monsters.”

Left “The dog wasn’t Bardot’s: he was the make-up girls’. He made a beeline for her when she went to have an afternoon siesta.”

Above “Jean Shrimpton intrigued me. I spent a day at her parent’s farm, and she was the greatest model of them all. She loved the country and her life on a farm.”