Eagle Pennell

Independent filmmaker Eagle Pennell was born Glenn Irwin Pinnell on July 28, 1952 in Andrews, West Texas. Eagle grew up in College Station, Texas. His father Charles taught civil engineering at Texas A&M University. Pennell first developed an interest in cinema as a teenager and used a Super 8 camera to shoot comedy skits performed by his sisters. Following graduation from Texas A&M Consolidated High School, Eagle attended the University of Texas in Austin as a film, radio, and television major prior to dropping out in his junior year in 1973. Pennell went on to wok for a company that produced highlights of Southwest Conference football games and co-organized Austin's first film festival in 1975. Eagle first dipped his toes in the cinematic narrative waters with the short A Hell of a Note (1977), which premiered at the Dobie theater in Austin in 1977. This was followed by Pennell's debut feature length picture The Whole Shootin' Match (1978). The Whole Shootin' Match (1978) elicited lots of praise at the USA Film Festival in Salt Lake City and subsequently inspired Robert Redford to start the Sundance Film Festival as well as won Eagle a development deal at Universal in Hollywood that ultimately failed to pan out. After spending two abortive years in Hollywood, Pennell returned to Texas in 1980 and settled in Houston. His second movie Last Night at the Alamo (1983) not only proved to be a critical success at both the New York Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, but also received a glowing review from Roger Ebert. His next film Ice House (1989) was his first and only director for hire project. He returned to his independent roots with Heart Full of Soul (1990) and Doc's Full Service (1994), with the latter proving to be his last movie. Alas, Eagle's problems with alcoholism curtailed his ability to get any further film projects off the ground: He spent the bulk out the 1990's in and out of rehab centers and was once even spotted wandering homeless in Houston waving signs at motorists requesting either a rich woman or a cold beer. Pennell died at age 49 on July 20, 2002 in Houston, Texas.