Freddie Starr

[faceless]

The Sun frontpage from March 13th 1986
Freddie Starr
March 09, 2009
thisiscroydontoday.co.uk

Ok, let's get it out the way first - did he really eat that hamster? Freddie Starr, comedian, singer and household name, has had a long career in showbusiness but much to his frustration, everyone still wants to know about that headline. "Of course I didn't eat it - my kids had hamsters at the time. And anyway, I'm a vegetarian."

In case you're among the minority who haven't seen the famous Sun front page from 1986, Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster, it referred to a woman who claimed Starr had put her hamster in a sandwich and eaten it when she refused to make him a snack. Anyway, now that one's cleared up...

Starr may be one of this country's most recognisable comedians, but he actually started his career as a singer in a Liverpool awash with creative talent. When he started doing some jokes and compering in amongst his performances with The Midnighters, it became obvious he had a talent for comedy. Starr cemented his reputation as one of comedy's rising stars when he was invited to perform at the Royal Variety Show in 1970 and hasn't looked back since.

"Did I plan to be a comic? No, but I always had a good sense of humour and I never lost it, whatever happened to me. It's what kept me going when I was in the home."

Starr is referring to a period of two years in his childhood when, at the age of six, he lost the ability to speak and was taken away from his family while he recovered. In the last couple of years he revealed his father was abusive, bullying him and breaking both the six-year-old Starr's legs.

"It was a mental blockage that stopped me from speaking and I had no contact with my parents, brothers and sisters during that time. I stopped speaking because of the problems with my father, and even when I started speaking again it left me with an impediment. But from bad things come good things and it didn't stop me from having a career where I perform live on stage. I've never been a guy that's been a prima donna in showbusiness - I just take it as it comes."

It's an attitude that has certainly taken Starr a long way in life - last year he celebrated 50 years in entertaining and is touring again this year. His brand of humour can sometimes be controversial and is always unpredictable, but it's earned him a lot of faithful fans who've helped him keep his career alive for such a long time. "I don't really think about how far I've come, it seems like yesterday that I first started out. I've had my heyday, been there and done that, and it's nice to be still loved by people. Morecambe and Wise are still popular now so I think people still enjoy humour from that time too."

After 50 years in the business, Starr has seen a lot of changes in the way that acts get their big break. "When I first started, showbusiness wasn't like it is today - it wasn't that easy in those days, it was much harder. The only show we had like X Factor was Opportunity Knocks, and really they've just dressed up that programme and made the judges into celebrities. Without X Factor how would anyone be discovered?"

During his career Starr has had more highlights than he can count, although when asked who he'd like to work with he replies, "well, you always want to be topping the bill yourself". He met Elvis, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr and even owned a racehorse, Minnehoma, that won the 1994 Grand National. They're experiences most people can only dream of, but it isn't always such a great life for Starr.

Last year he took part in the Channel 4 series Wife Swap, where couples swap partners and live together with each other's differing lifestyles. Starr didn't come across too well to many viewers, but he says, "it was the most horriblest thing I've ever done and I totally regret it". Starr was paired with Sam Fox, a celebrity he's made no secret he doesn't get on with, and feels he was set up by the show.

"They asked me who I wanted to swap with and I said I didn't want a page three girl, especially not Sam Fox. I was going to tell them (the crew) to get out but I thought I'd try to stay out of her way because we clash. Then people kept saying 'you want to see what Donna (Starr's wife) has said about you'. They reckoned she'd said I just sat in a chair ordering tea all day and that upset me a lot to think that's what she thought of me. It's not what she thinks, but we did end up breaking up for a while until we sorted out what had been said. Channel 4 have always done this to me, this is the fourth show they've screwed me on. I asked them whose child I had killed to get this treatment."

However not all of Starr's TV appearances have turned out so badly. He talks about an upcoming episode of Most Haunted featuring his home and a psychic ability few knew he had until recently.

"I've always been psychic and felt spirits around me since I was a kid, but I didn't speak about it much because people think you're a nutter. I wanted the show to be very honest because there are a terrible lot of phoneys around, but everyone was very professional and nice. A man had killed a girl in my street and was hung for it. I saw a girl waving and pointing at me and Ian Lawson (the show's presenter) said I was lucky and he wished they'd come to him that easily. At one point I fainted and woke up shaking like I was naked next to an iceberg. I asked what happened but they said I'd have to watch the programme to find out."

Starr has recently recovered from a knee injury that stopped him performing on stage and is looking forward to getting back to work.

"I hated it, my legs were taken away from me. I had four operations on my knee but made a very quick recovery - I was walking again two days later and it should have taken four weeks. I've got so much material in my head for the tour - I don't find it difficult to come up with new ideas, I like to change things every night if I can so I don't get bored with the same thing. So I can't say what I'll be performing on the night. People will have to suck it and see, and if they don't like it they can just suck it!"