Latest news with #MaureenStarkey
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Ringo Starr: Beatles biopic got my first marriage wrong
Ringo Starr has claimed the original script of a forthcoming Beatles biopic misrepresented his first marriage. The drummer, who turns 85 this week, said he had to correct director Sam Mendes over the details of his sometimes tempestuous relationship with Maureen Starkey Tigrett, whom he wed in 1965. 'He had a writer – a very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I. That's not how we were,' Starr told The New York Times in a profile published to mark his birthday. He added: 'I'd say, we would never do that. But he'll do what he's doing and I'll send him peace and love.' Starr met Starkey Tigrett after she became a regular at the Cavern Club, the Liverpool venue where the Beatles honed their craft. Often described as one of the band's original groupies, she was sometimes confronted by obsessive Beatles fans and was once attacked during a gig on Valentine's Day 1963. In 1975, Starr is said to have demanded a divorce when he learnt she was having an affair with George Harrison. According to Cynthia Lennon 's memoir, Starkey Tigrett was so upset she came close to killing herself by driving a motorbike into a brick wall. Starr's life and marriage will now be dramatised in one of four Beatles biopics due to be released in April 2026, each following a different member of the band. Starr will be played by Irish actor Barry Keoghan, while Harris Dickinson will star as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn as Harrison. The films are being written by Jack Thorne, who wrote Adolescence, Jez Butterworth, an award-winning playwright, and Peter Straughan, who co-wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Starr said he was still performing music at 84 because he loves doing it. He said: 'When I first started my mother would come to the gigs. She would always say, 'You know, son, I always feel you're at your happiest when you're playing your drums.' So she noticed. And I do. I love to hit those buggers.' Starr said he had first started drumming after he contracted tuberculosis at 13 and was sent to a Merseyside sanitarium to convalesce for two years. One day, a music teacher appeared with tambourines, triangles and small drums for the bedridden children to play. 'It was like a craziness,' he said. 'I hit the drum and I only wanted from that moment to be a drummer, and that was what my aim was.' Discussing his relationship with Starr, McCartney told The New York Times he was grateful to have one remaining bandmate to talk to. 'With John and George not here, I think we realise nothing lasts forever,' he said. 'So we grasp on to what we have now because we realise that it's very special. It's something hardly anyone else has. 'In fact, in our case, it's something no one else has. There's only me and Ringo, and we're the only people who can share those memories.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr Spent ‘Two Days' With Sam Mendes Going Through His Own Biopic ‘Line by Line': ‘I'd Say, ‘We Would Never Do That.''
Ringo Starr is making sure his biopic is just right. In its recent profile on The Beatles drummer, the New York Times reported that Starr met with director Sam Mendes to discuss his own biopic. Over 'two days,' Starr went over the script with Mendes 'line by line' and offered 'extensive notes' to make sure it was as true to life as possible. One particular area of focus was on Starr's family and first marriage to Maureen Starkey Tigrett. More from Variety The Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. Names Tom Greene as New CEO Denis Villeneuve, Director of the 'Dune' Films, Has the Chance to Bring the James Bond Series a Quality It Has Lost: Danger The Best Beatles Books and Merch to Gift the Fab Four Fan in Your Life 'He had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,' Starr explained. 'That's not how we were. I'd say, 'We would never do that.'' Starr added that he was much more comfortable with his depiction after the edit session and trusted Mendes to carry through with the vision. Starr added, 'But he'll do what he's doing and I'll send him peace and love.' Mendes plans to release four Beatles biopics in April 2028, each one from a different band member's perspective. The project is titled 'The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event.' It is currently unknown if the movies will come out all at once or be released once per week throughout April. As for casting, Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn will portray George Harrison, Barry Keoghan is Starr and Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon. The logline for the four-part saga reads, 'Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.' Read the New York Times' full story on Starr here. Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'That's not how we were. We would never do that': Ringo has put his foot down over parts of the Beatles biopics
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Ringo Starr has apparently already had a word with Sam Mendes and caused some rewriting to the upcoming Beatles' biopics. The director met his subject recently and over two days the pair worked on the scripts for the drummer's individual movie, which like the others, is due to hit cinemas in April 2028. According to the New York Times, Ringo 'offered extensive notes' to Mendes to make sure that the movie provides an accurate portrayal of his early life and his first marriage to Maureen Starkey. 'He had a writer - very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,' says Starr. 'That's not how we were. I'd say, 'We would never do that.'' Nevertheless, both Ringo and Mendes are now said to be satisfied with the rewrite. 'He'll do what he's doing,' Starr said of the director, 'and I'll send him peace and love.' Elsewhere in the New York Times interview, the drummer, who turns 85 this coming Monday, says he still feels like he's in his 20s when he looks in the mirror. "It blows me away,' he reflects. 'I look in the mirror and I'm 24. I never got older than 24," he told the NYT, adding to himself, "But guess what? You did." There's no doubt Ringo does look good for a man in his mid 80s, but 24? Come on. Anyway, he puts it all down to a lifetime playing drums: "I love what I'm doing. When I first started... my mother would come to the gigs. She would always say, 'You know, son, I always feel you're at your happiest when you're playing your drums'. So she noticed. And I do."
