Marshall Terrill
Encyclopedia
Marshall Terrill is an American author and journalist. He is noted for biographies on Steve McQueen
, Elvis Presley
, and Pete Maravich
.
; 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
.
. 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. Portrait of an American Rebel became a best-seller and has gone into four printings. It also launched Terrill’s literary career.
, 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.
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 perfecting the manuscript. The book was released in tradeback in August 2008.
In 2009 Terrill co-wrote Palm Springs à la Carte (Barricade Books) with businessman Mel Haber, who is the longtime owner of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's restaurant in Palm Springs.
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 released 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 will be 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 a McQueen biopic based on two books by Terrill: Portrait of an American Rebel and The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon. James Gray, who wrote and directed We Own the Night, is attached to write the screenplay. Video director Ivan Zacharias is attached to make his directorial debut on the project. According to IMDB.com, the movie will commence production in 2013.
Fall 2011 saw Terrill switching gears and his workplace became the focus of his next project, "Downtown Phoenix Campus Arizona State University: The First 5 Years." The 94-page book was a summer project that was published in November. 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
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, and Pete Maravich
Pete Maravich
Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980...
.
Early years: 1963-1982
Terrill is one of four children of Mike and Carolyn Terrill. An Air Force brat, he lived in Big Spring and Waco, TexasWaco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
; Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
and Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
. He mainly grew up in Northern Virginia and San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Terrill attended Hayfield Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, Madison High School in San Antonio, and graduated from Robinson High School in Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
.
Phoenix, Arizona: 1982-1989
After high school Terrill moved to Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. While studying business he worked for financier Charles Keating
Charles Keating
Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. is an American athlete, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, and financier, most known for his role in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s....
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
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
.
Steve McQueen Project: 1989 to 1993
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
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
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, and the Arizona Republic. Portrait of an American Rebel became a best-seller and has gone into four printings. It also launched Terrill’s literary career.
More Biographies: 1994-2002
Terrill moved back to Phoenix in 1994 and followed his biography on McQueen with collaborations on actor Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Barbara LeighBarbara Leigh
Barbara Leigh is an American former actress and fashion model. In 1972 she appeared in the film Junior Bonner with former boyfriend Steve McQueen....
, boxers Aaron Pryor
Aaron Pryor
Aaron Pryor is a former boxer from Cincinnati, Ohio, and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He is the former world Junior Welterweight champion, and regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the weight class.-Amateur career:Pryor, nicknamed The Hawk, had a record of...
, Ken Norton
Ken Norton
Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. is a former heavyweight boxer. He is best known for his 12-round victory over a peak Muhammad Ali where he famously broke Ali's jaw, on March 31, 1973, becoming only the second man to defeat Ali as a professional .He and Ali...
, and Earnie Shavers
Earnie Shavers
Earnie Dee Shaver , better known as Earnie Shavers, is an American former professional boxer and is widely considered along with George Foreman as the hardest punchers of all time...
(co-authored with Mike Fitzgerald
Mike Fitzgerald (author)
Mike H. Fitzgerald co-authored a book with Tennessee-based boxing writer David Hudson entitled Boxing's Most Wanted , and also judges professional boxing matches....
), and basketball legend David Thompson
David Thompson (basketball)
David O'Neil Thompson is a former American professional basketball star with the Denver Nuggets of both the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association , as well as the Seattle SuperSonics...
(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
Chandler, Arizona
-Demographics:As of the Census of 2010, there were 236,123 people, 86,924 households, and 60,212 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 73.3% White, 4.8% Black or African American, 1.5% Native American, 8.2% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 21.9% Hispanic or Latino, and 8.3%...
, 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.
2002 to present
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
Maravich
MARAVICH is a biography of "Pistol" Pete Maravich written by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill, in collaboration with Pete's widow, Jackie Maravich. It was published by Sport Classic Books in January 2007.-External links:...
, co-authored by Wayne Federman
Wayne Federman
Wayne Federman is an American comedian, actor, author, and comedy writer. He is noted for his numerous stand-up comedy appearances in clubs, theaters, and on television; his biography of "Pistol" Pete Maravich; and his supporting comedic acting roles in The X-Files, The Larry Sanders Show, Curb...
, 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 perfecting the manuscript. The book was released in tradeback in August 2008.
In 2009 Terrill co-wrote Palm Springs à la Carte (Barricade Books) with businessman Mel Haber, who is the longtime owner of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's restaurant in Palm Springs.
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 released 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 will be 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 a McQueen biopic based on two books by Terrill: Portrait of an American Rebel and The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon. James Gray, who wrote and directed We Own the Night, is attached to write the screenplay. Video director Ivan Zacharias is attached to make his directorial debut on the project. According to IMDB.com, the movie will commence production in 2013.
Fall 2011 saw Terrill switching gears and his workplace became the focus of his next project, "Downtown Phoenix Campus Arizona State University: The First 5 Years." The 94-page book was a summer project that was published in November. 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