Ringo's Wife Shy, Quiet
By EDDIE GILMORELondon, England - The eighteen year old wife of Ringo Starr - one of the world's best known bridegrooms - is one of the world's least known brides.
Maureen Cox, or Mrs. Starr, is a small, shy girl of few words.
Since her Feb. 11 wedding to the Beatles' off beat drummer, her public utterances have been about as rare as signatures of Button Gwinnet, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independance.
Mrs. Starr will not grant interviews.
"She doesn't want to get mixed up with publicity," said a spokesman for the mop headed musicians, "and Ringo doesn't want her to, either."
A search of the records indicates that Mrs. Starr (real married name Mrs. Richard Starkey) has spoken only a few scentences in public, all in answer to reporters' questions.
Her declarations were made in the flowerless back yard of a seaside villa in Hove on the English Channel, where she and her husband agreed to meet the press on the second day of their three day honeymoon.
Learning to Cook
Even as she spoke, she nervously clutched her 24 year old husband's hand.
Here's the record:
QUESTION: "Has Ringo changed since you met him three years ago?"
ANSWER: "No."
Q. "Have you missed Ringo when he's gone away on tours?"
A. "He went away but he always came back to me."
Q. "Do you agree with marriage?"
A. "Yes."
Q. Do you expect to have children?"
A. "Yes."
Q. "How many?"
No answer, but Ringo said: "Maureen hasn't made up her mind."
Q. "Are you enjoying your honeymoon?"
A. "Yes, but I don't like the publicity."
Q. "Can you cook?"
A. "No." But Ringo said, "She's not bad. She's learning."
Q. "Where did you meet Ringo?"
A. (Very softly) "I can't remember."
Earlier in the news conference, Ringo had said they met at Liverpool's Cavern Club where the Beatles got started three years ago.
Q. "Where are you and Ringo going to live?"
A. "I'm not really fussy where I live - providing it's with Ringo."
Q. "How does it feel to be married to a man that millions of girls all over the world would like to marry?"
No answer.
Born Mary Cox in Liverpool, she began calling herself Maureen shortly before she met Ringo.
By trade she was a hairdresser.
Maureen looks a lot like a Beatle herself.
SHE HAS AS MUCH HAIR as Ringo, Paul McCartney, George Harrison or John Lennon. Like the Beatles, Maureen wears bangs that flop downward almost to her eyelashes. She wears her ears exposed as do the Beatles. Shapely in the right places, she's about 2 1/2 inches shrter than Ringo and he stands about 5 feet 7. Her education is not extensive, for she stopped school at the age od 15. That's when she met Ringo.
Will Ringo's marriage affect The Beatles? The Beatles don't think so. John Lennon, who is, perhaps, the most articulate of the musicians said:
"You're bound to loose a few fans - the ones who believe that one day they might marry you." Jhn is the other married Beatle. His wife is Cynthia and he keeps her out of the limelight.
"I DON'T THINK IT'LL really affect our popularity," Lennon went on. "There might be a reshuffling of fans from one Beatle to another - at least that's what happened when I got married, but now they seem to carry on as if I'm not married."
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variations of this article were carried in local papers all over America during the first half of April 1965 but this seems the one with the most information. Some of the later articles mentioned it was rumoured that Maureen was now expecting, and the baby due at the close of the year.
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