R.I.P Freddie starr

[tex]

Died yesterday (thursday) at his home in spain aged 76. Funny in the 70's but his particular brand of comedy died a long time ago.
REST IN PEACE FREDDIE.

[George 1978]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Wasn't certain whether the news was official as they refer to "reports" which to me means rumours, but I will assume that it is true.

I think that his biggest legacy was The Sun's "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" headline in 1986 which despite not reading The Sun myself, seems very much like the Max Clifford-type publicity stunt of its time, and don't forget that this was during the time when Sam Fox used to be a page three regular, lest we forget. The Sun's headline today is: "Freddie Starr Joins His Hamster", reminding regular readers of that 1986 headline - I assume that it had been prepared in their newsroom for when the time came, and it has now. A lot of hamsters would be paying tribute, no doubt!

Starr was one of those entertainers who became famous as a result of the New Faces / Opportunity Knocks range of series in the 1970s - the latter of the two I believe. I know that in 1993, ITV company Central tried to turn Starr into a Benny Hill-type act which obviously didn't work - they gave him a couple of specials, mostly on Bank Holidays back then, and I do think that it was the wrong type of vehicle for someone of his ilk - I think that it was wrong to make him into a Benny Hill replacement as I think that Mr Bean was close to a replacement as Starr would have been.

One also recalls his Audience With (not sure whether he did more than one of them) where he had a bowl full of rice, although he said they were maggots. "They're harmless", Starr said - maybe so, but any outsider wouldn't have thought so. He threw them towards the front of the audience where Faith Brown was sitting, and they almost went all over her, and she thought that they were the real thing. The audience was screaming blue murder and even the cameramen were doing a runner so they were not targeted. A caller to a local radio station said that she was disgusted as what she saw regarding the "maggots", and would never watch anything with Starr in it again because of that.

And in later, years, Operation Yewtree, although he was found innocent of course - admittedly, it wasn't a great thing to be part of during his final years, especially as a lot of his TV work was behind him by then.


(Can we move this thread to the "Gone but not Forgotten" part?)

[Richard1978]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

He was never my style of humour but sad to hear he's no longer with us.

[Twocky61]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Apparently Freddie died choking on his latest hamster lol

[tex]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Wasn't certain whether the news was official as they refer to "reports" which to me means rumours, but I will assume that it is true.

I think that his biggest legacy was The Sun's "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" headline in 1986 which despite not reading The Sun myself, seems very much like the Max Clifford-type publicity stunt of its time, and don't forget that this was during the time when Sam Fox used to be a page three regular, lest we forget. The Sun's headline today is: "Freddie Starr Joins His Hamster", reminding regular readers of that 1986 headline - I assume that it had been prepared in their newsroom for when the time came, and it has now. A lot of hamsters would be paying tribute, no doubt!

Starr was one of those entertainers who became famous as a result of the New Faces / Opportunity Knocks range of series in the 1970s - the latter of the two I believe. I know that in 1993, ITV company Central tried to turn Starr into a Benny Hill-type act which obviously didn't work - they gave him a couple of specials, mostly on Bank Holidays back then, and I do think that it was the wrong type of vehicle for someone of his ilk - I think that it was wrong to make him into a Benny Hill replacement as I think that Mr Bean was close to a replacement as Starr would have been.

One also recalls his Audience With (not sure whether he did more than one of them) where he had a bowl full of rice, although he said they were maggots. "They're harmless", Starr said - maybe so, but any outsider wouldn't have thought so. He threw them towards the front of the audience where Faith Brown was sitting, and they almost went all over her, and she thought that they were the real thing. The audience was screaming blue murder and even the cameramen were doing a runner so they were not targeted. A caller to a local radio station said that she was disgusted as what she saw regarding the "maggots", and would never watch anything with Starr in it again because of that.

And in later, years, Operation Yewtree, although he was found innocent of course - admittedly, it wasn't a great thing to be part of during his final years, especially as a lot of his TV work was behind him by then.


(Can we move this thread to the "Gone but not Forgotten" part?)

Wouldn't know how, I had forgotten the whole yewtree thing and apparently he did the whole jungle bit aswell

[Twocky61]

RIP Freddie Starr

Freddie Starr has died aged 76

Apparently he died choking on his latest hamster lol

[George 1978]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

It was only around six years ago - mind you, I am prepared to assume that it never happened in the first place.

[staffslad]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Sad to hear that Freddie has passed away. TBH his anarchic style of comedy wasn't entirely to my taste, but he was certainly a one-off, and had a high profile on TV in the 70s. Doubtless some of his stuff would be frowned upon in these modern times, but he is in no way unique in that respect. I can't remember exactly, but I think he was maybe on Who Do You Do? and that would probably have been the first time I saw him. RIP Freddie Starr

[George 1978]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

I suppose that the Starr / Hamster thing draws comparisons with the Richard Whiteley / ferret thing that he was known for via Calendar People, and nationally via IBAOTN. Whiteley used to joke that the headline "Ferret Man Dies" would be on the front pages of the newspapers when his time came, and in 2005, one of the northern local newspapers did just that when he died.

[Mulletino]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

As a kid I really liked Freddie Starr, I thought he was great. We even went to see him at the Windmill Theatre in Great Yarmouth when on holiday one year and thought the show was magical (i'd not seen a comedian live before).
It was my family and a friend's family that went, he did that "recording messing up" act to "Starry Night", that song now reminds me of the friend I went with as he later suffered mental illness and ended up dying at a young age due to it.

Freddie was from an era when "paladium" type acts were big, but are they really any different to the people that come through via "britain's got talent" now? Or the countless people trying to get famous on youtube?

[zabadak]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Very much of his time but one of the best of that era, IMHO

[Twocky61]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

I compare him to Russel Brand lol

[George 1978]

Re: R.I.P Freddie starr

Another thing is that I can understand why he chose Starr as his stage name, just like Ringo from the Beatles - (his real surname was Fowell, I believe), I have always thought that his stage name was too similar in pronunciation to Fred Astaire - what does other people think about that? Admittedly, I used to confuse both names when I was younger.