By Lou Cedrone
The Evening Sun
April 2, 1981
When Ringo Starr goes from place to place, now, he gets into a limo, but he has been doing that all the time. He says, "I was never much of a walker. I don't do any less than I did before. I always get into cars in New York. I don't just walk around. I never did."
He does admit, however, that he gives more thought to security these days. "It wasn't a question of increasing security, because we never had any before John's death. Now we all have it," he said.
He was speaking about John Lennon, the Beatle gunned down outside a hotel [sic] in New York. It was inevitable that the conversation turned to Lennon, and Starr spoke of the tragedy with no trace of weariness. "I can't really add to it," he said. "There's nothing more I can say. I lost a good friend. He was like a brother to me. We were all like brothers. He was a fine musician and a great human being. And when I think about it, it still blows me away."
He was in New York to talk about a movie he has done with Barbara Bach, the current love of his life. She was with him when he talked to the press, her hand in his, his and hers, theirs entwined. I don't think they ever let go. She calls him Richard or Richie. She never once referred to him as Ringo. And when someone asked her how it felt to be so closely identified with one of the Beatles, she said that the big time in her life was when she did the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. "I was just a girl from Long Island, and there I was in a Bond movie. That was fantasy. When I fell in love with Richie, I was just falling in love with a man. I never felt I had to deal with the Beatles. They were just friends of Richie." She remembers that she was at the New York airport in 1964 when the Beatles first arrived in this country; she was there with her younger sister. She said her sister was the Beatles fan, Barbara just went along.
Ringo Starr, the former Richard Starkey, is very laid-back. Answered all questions with admirable equanimity. His hair is jet black. He still wears black mostly, and wears two earrings on the left ear, a star, and a pendant. On his lapel is another star, twin to one Miss Bach wears on her lapel. They are mementos of the accident they had in London. The car turned over several times. She was thrown out. He stayed with it, and they wear those stars made from the windshield of the automobile to remind themselves of their brush with death, of their good fortune to be alive.
"Why the black?" someone asked. "I don't know," said Ringo. "It's just easy. Everything matches. I'm breaking out, though-- I bought a black and white shirt."
The same reporter said it made him look almost sinister. "Sinister? Do I look sinister? That's probably because I dye my hair. I don't see myself as sinister or diabolic," he said, No, he does not intend to reunite with the remaining Beatles. "I am totally against it." He said he also objects to the continued sale of Beatles memorabilia. "I didn't mind it then because it was new, because it related to what we were doing. Now I'm against it."
He can listen to the old Beatles songs and still enjoy them. He said, "I can listen to them now without thinking of the things that were going down at the time. I used to do that. I used to relate more to the time, to the memories. I don't do that anymore."
He asked if any of the reporters had seen his new movie, Caveman, and what they thought of it. No one answered. Most had seen it that morning, but no one admitted to it. "Well, did you like it? We did. We enjoyed making it." He plays a caveman, and Miss Bach is the cavewoman he covets. It's a comedy with very little dialogue, and most of that is cave talk.
Someone said it was a kid's movie. Why did Starr make it? What statement did the film make? "Statement? Well, if it makes a statement, it is that good triumphs over evil and brain wins out over brawn. It's a family movie. It's very light. I'm very big with kids and mothers," he said. "My own kids were tired of seeing science fiction films, and we figured we would have a good chance with a prehistoric comedy. The fact that the film has no dialogue also interested me. Words can get in the way sometimes.
He denies that the film is an attempt to put the Beatles behind him. "I just did the film as an actor," he said.
Someone wanted to know how it feels to be 40. How did he think it would feel at 40? "I never thought about it, Starr said. "As a teenager, I thought all people should be shot at 60, but that was teenage madness. I didn't give much thought to tomorrow, did you? "
He said he thinks of himself now as a human being. "None of us is limited to one thing. We all play several roles. I'm a father, a musician, an actor, a furniture designer, all those things. I would like to be judged as an actor rather than an ex-Beatle. But everyone relates back to that. We can't escape it. "
He said it wasn't painful breaking away from the Beatles. "It had to happen." He said he wishes people would relate to him as he is now, rather than as he was. He looks back on the old Ringo as someone else. "When I watch one of our movies like Help!, it's like watching another person. It's the same for me as it is for you. "
After almost one hour of this, the interview was ended, and Starr and Miss Bach walked out hand in hand; they're probably still holding hands.
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