Terry O'Neill
Boardwalk, 1968
Gelatin Silver Print
40 x 60 in
101.6 x 152.4 cm
101.6 x 152.4 cm
Signed lower right, inscribed A/P lower left
This iconic photograph was taken on the very first day of filming ‘The Lady in Cement’, as Frank Sinatra walked from his hotel, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, to the film...
This iconic photograph was taken on the very first day of filming ‘The Lady in Cement’, as Frank Sinatra walked from his hotel, the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, to the film set. “This was the first time I ever saw Frank and I was astonished by the mere power of his presence, mesmerizing the crowd as he walked casually past.”
In his best-selling book ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ recalled how he was first introduced to Frank Sinatra. One night at a Jazz club in London, Terry told Ava Gardner that he was having to fly to Miami the next day to photograph a young rising movie star, Raquel Welch who was in a Tony Roma movie with Frank Sinatra (‘Lady in Cement’). Ava Gardner, who was still in love with Sinatra, wrote a letter and said to O’Neill, “give it to Frank”.
As Terry later wrote: “I was walking along the Miami Beach Boardwalk towards the Fontainebleau Hotel where Sinatra resided. He toured during the day and sang in cabarets at night. I had no idea how to meet him, he was one of the biggest stars in the world and it was very difficult to approach him. Suddenly he appears around the corner, walking with his entourage from the film. I take the picture, probably my most famous picture, and he comes towards me. I hand him the letter, he opens it and read it. He then turns to his bodyguards and says: this guy is with me. I never knew what Ava wrote to him but I knew he was still crazy about her, that she still had power over him and that he loved her until his last day. ”
O’Neill also recalled “After that day, I could go anywhere with Frank. He allowed me to become a better photographer by simply letting me do my job. It was a real honour to work with the man, a privilege.”
Interesting to note leading the entourage is Sinatra’s stand-in or stunt double, a man of roughly the same build as the great man, wearing identical clothes. Also, Sinatra was reputedly touchy about being photographed straight on, where the asymmetry of his ears would be noticeable – the left was apparently scarred from birth and the right a mild form of ‘cauliflower ear’.
Terry O’Neill was a British photographer who became famous throughout the world in the 1960s. His subjects included the most fashionable celebrities of the time, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Judy Garland, Faye Dunaway (who he married) and numerous other Hollywood stars, as well as members of the British royal family. The National Portrait Gallery, which held a major exhibition of his work in 2003/4, currently has 77 of his prints in their collection.
In his best-selling book ‘Every Picture Tells a Story’ recalled how he was first introduced to Frank Sinatra. One night at a Jazz club in London, Terry told Ava Gardner that he was having to fly to Miami the next day to photograph a young rising movie star, Raquel Welch who was in a Tony Roma movie with Frank Sinatra (‘Lady in Cement’). Ava Gardner, who was still in love with Sinatra, wrote a letter and said to O’Neill, “give it to Frank”.
As Terry later wrote: “I was walking along the Miami Beach Boardwalk towards the Fontainebleau Hotel where Sinatra resided. He toured during the day and sang in cabarets at night. I had no idea how to meet him, he was one of the biggest stars in the world and it was very difficult to approach him. Suddenly he appears around the corner, walking with his entourage from the film. I take the picture, probably my most famous picture, and he comes towards me. I hand him the letter, he opens it and read it. He then turns to his bodyguards and says: this guy is with me. I never knew what Ava wrote to him but I knew he was still crazy about her, that she still had power over him and that he loved her until his last day. ”
O’Neill also recalled “After that day, I could go anywhere with Frank. He allowed me to become a better photographer by simply letting me do my job. It was a real honour to work with the man, a privilege.”
Interesting to note leading the entourage is Sinatra’s stand-in or stunt double, a man of roughly the same build as the great man, wearing identical clothes. Also, Sinatra was reputedly touchy about being photographed straight on, where the asymmetry of his ears would be noticeable – the left was apparently scarred from birth and the right a mild form of ‘cauliflower ear’.
Terry O’Neill was a British photographer who became famous throughout the world in the 1960s. His subjects included the most fashionable celebrities of the time, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Judy Garland, Faye Dunaway (who he married) and numerous other Hollywood stars, as well as members of the British royal family. The National Portrait Gallery, which held a major exhibition of his work in 2003/4, currently has 77 of his prints in their collection.
