Maureen Starkey

Maureen Starkey Tigrett (born Mary Cox; 4 August 1946 – 30 December 1994), also known as Mo Starkey, was a hairdresser from Liverpool, England, best known as the first wife of Ringo Starr, the Beatles' drummer. When she was a trainee hairdresser in Liverpool, she met him at the Cavern Club, where the Beatles were playing. Starr proposed marriage at the Ad Lib Club in London on 20 January 1965. They married at the Caxton Hall Register Office, London, in 1965, and divorced in 1975.

The Starrs first lived at 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone, then bought Sunny Heights, in St George's Hill, Weybridge. In 1973, they bought Tittenhurst Park from John Lennon. They had three children together: sons Zak and Jason, and daughter Lee.

Early life

Mary Cox was born on 4 August 1946, in Liverpool, Lancashire, (now Merseyside), England. She was the only child of Florence Cox (née Barrett) and Joseph Cox, a ship's steward. As a teenager, she remembered turning her school uniform around to make it look like a frock, and paying a school friend ten cigarettes a day to teach her how to "smoke properly". She left convent school at 14, began her career as a trainee manicurist/hairdresser at Ashley du Pre, in Liverpool, and changed her name to Maureen but was known as "Mo" to her friends.

Ringo Starr

At 15, Cox became a regular at the Cavern Club, and remembered the long queues and violent competition for access to the Beatles. Although Ringo, whom she called "Ritchie" (for Richard), kissed her, he did not immediately notice her among his numerous fans. All the Beatles were supposed to be officially unattached, for image purposes, and when Ringo started dating Cox in 1962, she was often threatened, and once scratched in the face by a vicious rival. She even had to stop working as a hairdresser because of the threats. In September 1963, with her parents' permission, she travelled to Greece with Starr, Paul McCartney, and Jane Asher.

On the eve of an international tour, Starr collapsed during a photo session at a studio in Barnes, London. Stricken with a fever and tonsillitis, he was rushed to hospital, where Cox visited every day to help him recuperate. Afterwards they became a monogamous couple. On 20 January 1965, Starr proposed marriage to Cox at the Ad Lib Club, above the Prince Charles Theatre, London.

Marriage

After finding out that she was pregnant in late January 1965, 18-year-old Maureen married Starr at the Caxton Hall registry office in London on 11 February 1965.

Because of the pregnancy, the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein arranged the wedding very quickly, hoping it would be private, with John Lennon telling her there should be no tears, or she 'wouldn't be one of the gang'. McCartney was in Tunisia at the time and could not attend. After the wedding, George Harrison (who had arrived on a bicycle) jokingly said "Two down, two to go", meaning that the only two Beatles who were not married were Harrison and McCartney. The Starrs had a brief honeymoon for three days at the holiday home of Epstein's lawyer, David Jacobs, in Prince's Crescent, Hove, but gave an interview in the back garden on their wedding day, as they were being besieged by numerous reporters, with 100 photographers. Starr then had to depart to the Bahamas for the filming of ''Help!'', on 22 February. She made it clear from the start that she would not give interviews, as a Beatles spokesperson explained: "She doesn't want to get mixed up in publicity, and Ringo doesn't want her to, either."

The Starrs were living at 34 Montagu Square, Marylebone, when Epstein's accountant suggested that the group members should move to houses near his, in Esher. Lennon bought a house called Kenwood in St George's Hill, Weybridge, Harrison bought Kinfauns on a nearby estate in Esher, and on 24 July 1965, the Starrs bought Sunny Heights, on South Road, St George's Hill, for £30,000. Ken Partridge was asked to redesign the interior of the six-bedroom house, incorporating a private pub above the garage, called ''The Flying Cow'', which had a mirrored bar, pool table, jukebox, and a portrait of Lennon and McCartney on the wall. A TV was usually turned on in every room, and a go-kart track was laid in the grounds. Although she cooked for the family, the Starrs had a nanny who lived in the house, and a cleaning woman who visited every day.

After Lennon moved away, the Starrs sold Sunny Heights for £50,000, and bought a 16th-century mansion in Elstead, from Peter Sellers, which they soon sold to Stephen Stills, before moving into Roundhill, on Compton Avenue, Highgate, London, on 25 April 1969. They bought Lennon's home at Tittenhurst Park on 18 September 1973.

Cox enjoyed the closeness of Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Harrison, as they often went on holiday together, shopping, and celebrated Christmas. Starr promised that he would set up a nationwide hairdressing business for his wife, but the idea was later shelved, as she had to deal with caring for their children and being the wife of a Beatle. This would entail waiting with other Beatles' partners, at clubs like the Speakeasy Club, the Ad Lib, or the Scotch of St. James, or staying up all night, waiting with a cooked meal for Starr when he came home after a recording session. She was also asked to look after voluminous fan club mail and would personally answer letters. The Starrs were both interested in various arts, and collaborated on photo montages, paintings and simple sculptures together.

On 19 February 1968, the Starrs travelled to Rishikesh, India, with McCartney and Asher. They joined the Lennons and the Harrisons, who had arrived three days earlier. Maureen took an instant dislike to the spiders, mosquitoes, and flies that were ever-present in the ashram" (from '' The White Album'') and was, along with Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney, in attendance at the Apple Corps' rooftop concert in 1969, which was filmed for ''Let It Be'', showing her sitting next to the chimney stack with Ono to keep warm. Responding to applause, McCartney can be heard saying "Thanks, Mo" after the final performance of "Get Back" on the album ''Let It Be''.

Frank Sinatra's birthday song

The first song in the Apple Records catalogue was a private recording by Frank Sinatra. In 1968, as a favour to Starr, Sinatra recorded this special version of his previously released song "The Lady Is a Tramp" for Maureen's birthday. Sammy Cahn re-wrote the lyrics, and personalised them: "She married Ringo, and she could have had Paul/That's why the lady is a champ". Sinatra's recording was pressed as a single in Los Angeles, and notated as Apple 1. Starr presented his wife with the single on her 22nd birthday, 4 August 1968. Only a few copies were pressed before the master tape was destroyed; the song is still in demand by record collectors. A poor quality copy of the song began circulating in collector circles, and is now available on several bootleg albums. Starr and his wife attended a Sinatra concert in London on 8 May 1970.

Children

Zak Starkey was born on 13 September 1965, at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, the same day as the single " Yesterday" was released in the US. She said at the time: "I'd like the baby to be like Ringo, but he need not necessarily follow in his father's footsteps." Starr said his son was "a little smasher", but also said that "I won't let Zak be a drummer." She did not get her wish, as his son later went on to play with the Who and Oasis

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