25 March 1985, Daily Star, Maureen interviewed by Moira Petty

THE DAY MY HAIR FELL OUT

By Maureen Starkey
THE FIRST MRS RINGO STARR

The news that John Lennon had been gunned down in new York shook the world. But for Mrs. Maureen Starkey, the ex-wife of Beates drummer Ringo Starr, it had a very special significance.

For Lennon had been her confidant and his death was a tremendous blow.

So on that fateful December night in 1980 Maureen sat in her palatial London home and began to grieve.

In the first interview she has ever given, she told me: "I was always very close to John, then I heard on a newsflash that he'd been shot.

"I couldn't take it in at first. I was in a state of shock. I went into trauma, and my hair began falling out. First it was small handfuls, then huge lumps. It looked as though I'd go bald."

When Maureen, then 18, married Ringo in 1985, she had been outside her hom city of Liverpool only once before - when she shared an exotic Caribbean holiday with the drummer.

But as Beatlemania ecalated, Maureen was pushed increasingly into the background.

Throughout 10 years of marriage to the world's most famous pop drummer she remained a shadowy figure.

She stayed silent even when Ringo announced flippantl to the world in 1974: "I suppose my marriage will end in divorce.

"I'm a today person. Divorce is the way of things today."

Now Maureen talk hesitantly of her "amicable" relationship with the former Beatle, who she calls "Rich" - an abbreviated form of his real name, Richard.

For early in 1981, soon after Lennon's murder, she was shocked when Ringo secretly married former Bond girl Barbara Bach after spotting her nude photographs in a girlie magazine.

Happier

Although six years had passed since Maureen and Ringo's painful public divorce, friends said at the time that she still nursed hopes of a reconciliation.

But today, 38-year-old Maureen is a quietly confidant woman who has made a new life for herself

The former hairdresser's apprentice from Liverpool says: "I've lived through a lot, and I've learnt a lot. I'd say I'm a happier person these days."

Outside Maureen's Georgian house in London's Little Venice - part of her divorce settlement frm Ringo - is parked a black Cadillac with smoked glass windows.

It belongs to her boyfriend, eccentric millionaire Isaac Tigrett.

Medal

It was to him that she turned when, following Lennons' death and Ringo's remarriage, she was in the throes of a nervous breakdown.

Maureen had already known Isaac for four years.

The founder of London's famous Hard Rock Cafe, he is a vegetarian, the follower of a mystical Indian guru, and devotes a great amount of money to charities.

Isaac says of Maureen's traumatic spell: "Nothing we did seemed to help her, and she was continuing to loose her hair.

"So I flew to Southern India, and my guru gave me a special medal and told me to go straight back to Maureen with it.

"Just fourteen hours later, I placed it around her neck and immediately she felt better. Within days her hair was growing back."

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They make a striking couple. Isaac, 35, wears a long black tunic and trousers and says in his southern drawl: "I'm here to serve God. I do it my way by selling hamburgers."

Maureen is pale and thin. She wears the tight black trousers and waistcoat which were fashionable when she was first married.

Her hairstyle has not changed. It is a Beatlecut with a heavy fringe.

Shelves

She is shy and chain smokes nervously. As Isaac holds court in the 30ft long sitting room, she hangs devotedly on to his every word. "Isn't he handsome?" she says.

In Maureen's hallway is a large portrait of John lennon - the man she had always been able to talk to.

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And rock and roll memorabilia is everywhere.

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Om the shelves are also collections of plastic Beatles figures in their original wrapping.

Maureen explains: "I've asked many friends from the world of rock to donate things for an exhibition Isaac is going to hold at the Hard Rock Cafe.

"He's opening more restaraunts all round the world this year. And each one will be like a pop museum.

"He runs a wholesome honest business. I like to be part of it.

"Each time a rock star gives us a guitar or some other posession we're giving money to the charity of their choice."

So Maureen's home is littered with guitars which once belonged to Duane Eddy, Bo Diddley and John Entwistle. A drum autographed by the Beach Boys. A welcome-to-America telegram sent to The Beatles in 1964 by Elvis Presley.

"I'm happy with me life now." says Maureen. "I've learnt to be contented. I've matured.

"My children mean everything to me and whatever happened between Rich and me, he's been a good father to them.

Drinking

"I've kept in touch with the pop scene through my sons Zak, who's 20, and Jason, who's 17.

"They're both drummers. We've lived through a lot of noise!"

When Zak was 14 he began drinking heavily and only kicked the habit with the support of Sarah Mendikes, whom he married in January.

Maureen was not at the wedding at a Berkshire register office and says: "My children are getting older now.

"You can't carry on forever treating them like babies. They've got to find their own way in life."

Remarkably, Maureen is about to become a grandmother.

"The baby's due in September" she says. "No, it doesn't make me feel old. I was so excited by the news. It's exactly what I've always wanted.

"My second son Jason is working for Isaac at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Beliefs

"It's like a family business. I've been taking my children there since they were young.

"My daughter Lee is now 14 and goes to school locally. She's just great, really sweet."

Maureen often accompanies Isaac on his yearly trips to meditate in India. The scene is reminiscent of the Beatles' interest in mysticism back in the sixties.

But Maureen denies that it's a gimmick, and says: "I think any sensible person maintains his or her beliefs."

When in India, Maureen and Isaac sleep apart in concrete cells. They get up at 5 a.m. to begin prayers, and once fasted for 21 days.

When the couple are in new York, they live in Isaac's apartment. Their London base is Maureen's house.

Isaac says: "We've been together now for so long, it feels like marriage. But we don't see much point in it."


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