The New Ringo (1971)

 

The New Ringo

By:  Adrania Grassi

Express & News

July 18, 1971

    If you want an interview with Ringo Starr, you have to play it his way. The former Beatles drummer won't talk about his past. He wants to build up a new image. 

    Now Ringo's in Rome shooting The Blind Man directed by Tony Anthony. Before the meeting on the set, the PR girl prepares you for Ringo. "He's extremely natural and unpretentious." That's what the PR girl says.

     The set is a Western town. At 1o'clock sharp, everyone breaks for lunch. There's a noisy little restaurant on the set for movie and production crew.  Ringo finally sits down at a table after washing his hands. He's taken off his heavy wool vest and the many little rings he wears for the part. First, he sends off his manager Mae to the bakery for his daily bread. He likes whole wheat, but the bakery's all out and sends a substitute. He lavishly butters it, then tops it with a great slab of Grier's cheese, and washes the whole thing down with white wine.

     But even with an empty mouth, Ringo doesn't have much to say. "I've been a vegetarian for 18 months, and my wife's been one for four years. I haven't noticed any change in my health," he says about the diet. 

    Then he answers a few questions about his career. "It's a challenge. I really have not acted before because I was never allowed to. I think playing a cowboy is every man's dream because it's a personality he thinks about in his childhood. At this point, I don't have to worry about being a hero in my hometown, but starting out as an actor, like trying anything for the first time, is difficult."

     For the role, Ringo has to learn to ride a horse and twirl a pistol. In fact, he still practices with the pistol, but he found the riding most difficult, especially with a big western saddle. He compares it to being on a rough sea. 

    "The whole role is a challenge for me," says Ringo. "I know how to make a funny face, but in this role, humor is out. I really feel hate and madness throughout my body. I'm deeply, deeply involved in the part."

     Ringo says he always wears a black opal ring, which is known to carry bad luck with it. He does it, he claims just to show how independent he is. 

    Definite future plans are unknown, but after The Blind Man is finished, he'll head back to London to cut a new album. About it, he says, "Obviously, you understand. They are all my compositions."

     There is no future movie plans either. "I am flooded with film scripts, but I haven't decided anything. First, I want to see if Blind Man is a success." The short lunch break is over, and Ringo is off to the set.