Terry Moogan lived a life of poverty before he met Hollywood -Royalty.
The author is currently writing a follow -up to his memoirs, “Liverpool Bank Robber to Hollywood Butler,” He describes his journey to become a butler for various stars from the golden age of Hollywood.
Moogan told Fox News Digital that before he landed in California, he struggled to find his way in his native Liverpool.
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Terry Moogan (left) had no idea how much his life would change after meeting Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (right). (Terry Moogan/Getty images)
“All children are very heavy children in the city, and we all hung around gangs,” Moogan explained. “Liverpool has a history of gangs, very powerful men … We had just come from the war in England and we had nothing. We didn’t believe anyone. We had to survive.”
Moogan described how he and his team of outsiders would hang around through the docks, whiskey and vodka from the warehouses and would sell it to local pubs. They would also skip school and shoplifting.
Moogan claimed that at the age of 16 he did “Snatches van Banken” with his friends.
The book by Terry Moogan, “Bank Robber to Hollywood Butler,” is now out. (Shaun Attwood/Nielsen)
“We had no money,” said Moogan. “We had a little food. My father was absent and I was left to my own devices to do what I wanted.”
In 1975, Moogan received an offer that he could not refuse. His brother said he was taking him to Southampton. There he could find work on the Queen Elizabeth 2 Ocean Liner.
“I was absolutely lost,” Moogan recalled. “I didn’t know what to do. The only impulse I had was to go out again and to steal again. But my brother gives me money and says:” I take you to Southampton. “
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Terry Moogan found work in the Queen Elizabeth 2 where he met Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. (Terry Model)
“Eventually I was brought in at the Queen Elizabeth 2. I am working on the ship with all the chef chefs, but I couldn’t cook. I pretended. Then a friend of mine says there:” Why don’t you become a waiter? ” So I first became a busboy and then I learned to be a waiter. “
Terry Moogan said he was not interested in striving in Hollywood. (Terry Model)
“One day I came to the ship and the most important steward tells me:” Teddy, there is a job for you upstairs in the penthouse. Would you like that job? “
Moogan was promoted to the penthouse room where the stars mixed. It was there that he met the couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor arrive on August 19, 1968, on board the Queen Elizabeth 2 in New York City. (Ron Galella, Ltd./ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I was concerned with Elizabeth Taylor when Richard was downstairs in the casino,” Moogan recalled. “I wanted to be polite. She looks at me and says,” Have you ever thought about being a movie star? ” I tell her no.
“I laughed. I, an actor? I am a tough guy. That was not for me. ” She then says: ‘At least you should Be a butler in California. They will love you there. “She didn’t judge me. She really wanted to get to know me. It was a simple gesture, but she gave me hope that there was a better life for me. “
Elizabeth Taylor shows off one of her valued jewelry who gave her to her by Richard Burton. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty images)
Moogan admitted that he was tempted to steal Taylor’s valued jewels. Instead, he recorded her advice.
“I couldn’t steal from Elizabeth Taylor,” said Moogan. “She was so beautiful; I just couldn’t do this anyone like they do. My mind also started to think about redemption and a life that I didn’t know, a life that I couldn’t imagine myself. (If I stole from Taylor), they would come after me and I would probably have come for 10 to 20 years if I was caught.”
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Terry Moogan recorded the advice of Elizabeth Taylor and went to Los Angeles. (Terry Model)
In 1980, at the age of 23, Moogan left for Los Angeles. When he arrived, he went to the international domestic agency to take on the role of Butler in Beverly Hills.
Terry Moogan said that Lucille Ball reminded him of his mother. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“My first job was in the old house of Jack Benny In addition to Lucille Ball“said Moogan.” I got to know her. I used to take the waste for her. I would make jokes with her and she would make a cup of tea for me so we could talk.
“I used to say to her:” You look like my mother because my mother also had red hair! ” I pretended not to know who she was.
In 1982, Moogan started working for Maggie Eastwood, the wife of Clint Eastwood.
Clint Eastwood at home with his wife, Maggie Eastwood. The couple separated in 1984. (CBS Via Getty Images)
“They had two children,” said Moogan. ‘Clint was then divorced, but … I remember the house that felt a real home. Very withheld, comfortable, clean. The children were very nice and polite. It was not at all what I expected from the house of a movie star.
“Clint was very reserved and quiet. He would come by, and I would give him a beer. He would sit on the terrace to relax and always spend time with the children. And they loved him. I could see that he was a fantastic father, someone who was genuinely interested in their lives and wanted to be with them.”
Terry Moogan claimed that he learned why Frederick R. Weisman was not a fan of Frank Sinatra’s music. (Terry Model)
Moogan worked four months before the household of Eastwood. According to the author, he was then assigned to work for Frederick R. Weisman. Because he wanted to make a good impression on the prominent art collector and businessman, he played “My Way” by Frank Sinatra as he took care of his house. In his book, Moogan claimed that Weisman ‘exploded’.
The details around Frank Sinatra’s Barroom Bawl have been debated for years. (Martin Mills/Getty images)
Moogan wrote that Weismens spoke about his notorious Barroom -Vecht party that took place in the Polo Lounge Polo in 1966 and claimed that it had happened because the song and everything else of Sinatra gave him a painful place.
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According to several reports, Sinatra and Dean Martin were present, next to Bodyguard Jilly Rizzo and other friends. At the time, Weisman felt that the men were “noisy” on the hotspot of the celebrity and “screamed against them to be quiet.” Allegedly, Sinatra responded with an anti -Semitic comment.
Terry Moogan previously told the Liverpool Echo that Joan Rivers once asked him to cook “because Sir Laurence Olivier came to eat.” (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
“I couldn’t control myself, Terry,” Weisman is quoted as a telling Moogan. “I jumped out of my chair and hit him off his chair. My fist landed perfectly on his nose … the next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital … Apparently I put my hand out of Old Frankie to give a further beating, one of his goons hit me on the head with what to be a phone. “
“He was quite the fascinating guy,” Moogan told Fox News Digital.
Terry Moogan said that George Segal reminded him of his friends in the UK (Ray Fisher/Getty images)
And then there was George Segal. Moogan worked for him between 1985 and 1986.
“He was charming,” said Moogan. “He and his wife were very friendly. He loved to entertain his guests and I should make my Irish stew. He and his friends, between the rough jokes and the breast puff, were really no different than the men of Liverpool I knew from my childhood …. I loved to work for him.”
Terry Moogan still lives in California. (Terry Model)
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Moogan retired in 1992. He still lives in California. Looking back, Moogan said he is grateful for the encouraging words of Taylor.
Life today is good, he said.
“I am now a great believer of God,” said Moogan. “I walk the path of the Lord … I am grateful for the opportunities I have received … for good for the better.”
