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Marshall Terrill | |
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| Born | December 17, 1963 Texarkana, Texas, United States |
| Occupation | Journalist, biographer |
| Genre | Biography |
Marshall Terrill (born December 17, 1963, in Texarkana, Texas) is an American author and journalist. He is noted for biographies on Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Billy Graham and Pete Maravich.
Terrill is one of four children of Mike and Carolyn Terrill. An Air Force brat, he lived in Big Spring and Waco, Texas; Sacramento, California and Montgomery, Alabama. He mainly grew up in Northern Virginia and San Antonio, Texas. Terrill attended Hayfield Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia, Madison High School in San Antonio, and graduated from Robinson High School in Fairfax, Virginia.
After high school Terrill moved to Phoenix, Arizona. While studying business he worked for financier Charles Keating beginning in 1984. Five years later Keating's company, Lincoln Savings & Loan, was the target of a federal investigation. Keating was sent sentenced to jail and Terrill was suddenly unemployed. At age 26, he moved back into his parents’ home in Northern Virginia and began his second career, as a biographer. His first subject: actor Steve McQueen.
With the Library of Congress at his disposal, Terrill spent the next three-and-a-half years researching the life of McQueen. In December 1993, the 564-page Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel, was released. The book, noted for its exhaustive research, was featured in numerous publications including USA Today , New York Post , Playboy , Entertainment Weekly , The Washington Post , Variety , Cosmopolitan , Chicago Tribune , San Francisco Chronicle , and the Arizona Republic . [1] Portrait of an American Rebel became a best-seller and has gone into four printings.
Terrill moved back to Phoenix in 1994 and followed his biography on McQueen with collaborations with actor Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and actress Barbara Leigh, boxers Aaron Pryor, Ken Norton, and Earnie Shavers (co-authored with Mike Fitzgerald), and basketball legend David Thompson (co-authored by Sean Stormes).
In 1999, Terrill was hired by the East Valley Tribune as a daily reporter.
He and his wife Zoe also co-authored Sergeant Presley in 2002 with Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield.
That same year he took a job with the Chandler Connection, a weekly publication in Chandler, Arizona, which morphed into the Ocotillo Tribune in August 2007.
Terrill was hired in 2008 by Arizona State University's Public Affairs Division promoting the university's campus in downtown Phoenix.
2005 saw the 25th anniversary of Steve McQueen's death and with it came another re-examination of his life and work. London-based Plexus publishing updated Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel, with a new beginning and end chapter. That same year, Terrill met McQueen's last wife and widow, Barbara, and the two began working on a photo book.
In October 2006, Terrill released Maravich , co-authored by Wayne Federman, an exhaustively researched biography on the basketball great, who died on January 5, 1988, from a heart defect. The book took seven years to research and write and was done with the cooperation of Jackie Maravich, the athlete's widow. Focus on the Family/Tyndale Publishing released the paperback version of the book in September 2008 called Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete Maravich.
Terrill also released Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, which is a 250-page photo book containing more than 150 photos of the actor taken by Barbara McQueen.
Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business was released in May 2007. Terrill co-authored with Sonny West, who was Presley's friend and bodyguard for 16 years. West and Terrill spent four years on the manuscript. The book was released in tradeback in August 2008.
In 2009 Terrill co-wrote Palm Springs á la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway with businessman Mel Haber, who is the longtime owner of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's restaurant in Palm Springs, California.
Terrill will oversee the release of two Steve McQueen books in 2010: "Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool," (Dalton Watson Fine Books) is a 384-page photo/passage book that was published on March 24, 2010, what would have been McQueen's 80th birthday. "Steve McQueen: The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon," (Triumph Books) is a brand new 600-page plus bio on the actor. It was released in November 2010 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of McQueen's death.
In April 2011, the Hollywood Reporter announced that two-time Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner will produce and star in an upcoming McQueen biopic based on Steve McQueen: The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon.
In 2011 Terrill wrote Downtown Phoenix Campus Arizona State University: The First 5 Years. It tells the story of how ASU President Michael Crow and former City of Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon joined forces to create the Downtown Phoenix campus in less than three years time. The book is available as a free download by visiting http://www.asu.edu/firstfive/ebook.pdf
The Arizona Republic named Terrill 'Biographer of the Year' in its annual best of issue in March 2012.
2014 saw the publication of two books: "Guitar With Wings" (Dalton Watson Fine Books), a photo memoir with Grammy Artist Laurence Juber, former guitarist for Paul McCartney's Wings (1978-1981) and "Zora Folley: The Distinguished Life and Mysterious Death of a Gentleman Boxer," a 93-page ebook.
Terrill's 19th book "Rock and a Heart Place" with Ken Mansfield, is an anthology chronicling the spiritual lives of more than a dozen musicians from the rock era.
Continuing the rock and roll circuit, Terrill's 20th book was published by Triumph in 2016 as the co-author of "Still So Excited: My Life as a Pointer Sister" with Ruth Pointer.
In 2017, Terrill published two more books on "The King of Cool" - "Steve McQueen: Le Mans in the Rearview Mirror," a coffee-table book with property master Don Nunley on the 1971 racing picture and "Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon" with Pastor Greg Laurie, which examines McQueen's decision to become a born again Christian near the end of his life. The book also spawned a feature documentary called "Steve McQueen: American Icon" in which Terrill served as an executive producer. It was released nationwide on September 28, 2017.
Terrill and Laurie partnered again in 2019 for "Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon," continuing on with the series of examinations of pop culture artists who have become born again Christians. A feature documentary is also in the works for 2021.
The year 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of Steve McQueen's death, which Terrill commemorated with his seventh book on the global icon called "Steve McQueen: In His Own words." The 504-page photo book contained more than 500 photo and approximately 450 quotations from "The King of Cool." The book was widely reviewed, including Parade, Entertainment Weekly, The Daily Beast, Closer Weekly and Inside Hook.
In 2021, Terrill and Greg Laurie teamed up again for "Billy Graham: The Man I Knew," an intimate look at the world's best-known evangelist who was loved and known by millions. Laurie was one of those fortunate few blessed with an insider’s view of Billy Graham’s world for more than two decades. Terrill kept busy in 2021 with a second release called "Jesus Music: The Visual Story of Redemption as Told By Those Who Lived It", a history of Contemporary Christian Music. It features exclusive interviews with Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Kirk Franklin, TobyMac, Michael Tait, Chuck Girard and Tommy Coomes.
Early in 2022, Terrill announced the formation of True Tales of the Southwest LLC, a production company dedicated to the creation of feature documentary films. The first release is set for 2024.
Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written books on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke.
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. It was written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden, with credit being given also to Presley. A newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window inspired the song. Axton presented the song to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley recorded it on January 10, 1956, in a session with his band, the Blue Moon Boys, the guitarist Chet Atkins and the pianist Floyd Cramer. "Heartbreak Hotel" comprises an eight-bar blues progression, with heavy reverberation throughout the track, to imitate the character of Presley's Sun recordings.
Terrence Stephen McQueen was an American actor and racing driver. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the 1960s and 1970s. He was nicknamed the "King of Cool" and used the alias Harvey Mushman in motor races.
Peter Press Maravich, known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player of Serbian descent. He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Maravich, was the team's head coach. Maravich is the all-time leading NCAA Division I men's scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game. All of his accomplishments were achieved before the adoption of the three-point line and shot clock, and despite being unable to play varsity as a freshman under then-NCAA rules.
Winfield Scott Moore III was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968.
Greg Laurie is an American evangelical pastor, evangelist and author who serves as the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Riverside, California. He also is the founder of Harvest Crusades. Laurie is also the subject of the 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which tells the story of how he converted to Christianity and got his start in ministry in the midst of the Jesus movement.
Elvis Presley is the debut studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Victor, on March 23, 1956,. The recording sessions took place on January 10 and January 11 at the RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and on January 30 and January 31 at the RCA Victor studios in New York. Additional material originated from sessions at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, August 19 and September 10, 1954, and on July 11, 1955.
Live a Little, Love a Little is a 1968 American musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley. It was directed by Norman Taurog, who had directed several previous Presley films. This was to be Taurog's final film, as he went blind shortly after production ended. Presley shares the screen with fellow legendary singing idol Rudy Vallee, whose career dated to the 1920s, but Vallee, in his late 60s, did not sing in the film.
The Memphis Mafia was the nickname given by the media to a group of Elvis Presley's friends, associates, employees and cousins whose main functions were to accompany, protect, and serve Presley from the beginning of his career in 1954 until his death in 1977. Several members filled practical roles; for instance, they were employed to work for Presley as bodyguards or on tour logistics and scheduling. In these cases Presley paid salaries, but most lived off fringe benefits such as gifts, cars, houses and bonuses. Over the years, the number of members grew and changed, but for the most part there was a core group who spent much time with Presley.
Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite is a concert starring Elvis Presley that took place at the Honolulu International Center and was broadcast live via satellite to audiences in Asia and Oceania on January 14, 1973. The show was presented with a delay in Europe. In the United States, to avoid a programming conflict with Super Bowl VII and Elvis on Tour which was playing in cinemas at the time, NBC opted to air a ninety-minute television special of the concert on April 4.
Today is the twenty-second studio album by American singer Elvis Presley, released on May 7, 1975 by RCA Records. The album featured the country and pop music sound typical of Elvis during the 1970s, as well as a new rock and roll song, "T-R-O-U-B-L-E", which was released as its first single and went Top 40 in the US. "Bringing It Back" was its second single in the US. The album also features covers of songs by Perry Como, Tom Jones, The Pointer Sisters, Billy Swan, Faye Adams, The Statler Brothers and Charlie Rich.
Elvis Is Back! is the fourth studio album by American singer Elvis Presley, released on April 8, 1960 by RCA Victor. It was Presley's first album of new material since 1958's King Creole soundtrack, as well as his first to be recorded and released in stereophonic sound. The album marked Presley's return to music after his discharge from the U.S. Army.
Ken Mansfield was an American record producer who was the manager of Apple Records in the United States. He was also a high-ranking executive for several record labels, as well as a songwriter, author of seven books and a Grammy and Dove Award-winning album producer.
Harum Scarum is the eleventh soundtrack album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor in mono and stereo, LPM/LSP 3468, in November 1965. It is the soundtrack to the 1965 film of the same name starring Presley. It peaked at number eight on the Top LP's chart.
Elvis: What Happened? is a 1977 sensationalist book about the American singer Elvis Presley. The book, which is based on the personal accounts of three of Elvis' former bodyguards, went into detail on Presley's prescribed drug abuse. His death, only two weeks after the book's US publication in July 1977, made it highly topical and helped boost its sales to over three million.
Joseph Anthony Tunzi is an American author, publisher, and producer, based in Chicago, Illinois. He has been described as "a renowned author from Chicago" and "one of the foremost authorities on Elvis Presley," authoring, self-publishing, and producing over 60 titles about Presley, amongst others, for over three decades. Tunzi's other projects focus on topics including Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr., the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the Vietnam War.
Gary Tillery is an American writer and artist known for his biographies focusing on the spiritual lives of famous figures, and for his public sculptures. His 2009 book, The Cynical Idealist, was named the official book of the 2010 John Lennon Tribute in New York City, and he created the centerpiece sculpture of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated in 2005.
Matthew C. Whitaker is an American historian. He was an associate professor of history and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Arizona State University; in January 2016 ASU announced that he had resigned these positions.
Larry Geller is an American writer, hairstylist, and public speaker. He was a spiritual advisor and personal hairstylist to Elvis Presley. He "played a major role in shaping the King's iconic hair looks". Elvis hired him on April 30, 1964 during the filming of Roustabout. He became "the man in whom [Elvis] confided in matters of the spirit."
Delbert Bryant West Jr., known professionally as Sonny West, was a friend and bodyguard of the singer Elvis Presley along with his cousin Red West for sixteen years, as part of the Elvis entourage at Elvis' Memphis home Graceland, which became known as "The Memphis Mafia".
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