Editing Ringo Starr (section)

==Early life==
[[File:9 Madryn Street, Liverpool 2020.jpg|thumb|upright|Starr's birthplace in Madryn Street, [[Dingle, Liverpool]], in May 2013|alt=A colour photo of a red-bricked house with boarded up windows and doors]]
Richard Starkey<ref>{{cite web |date=2 November 2021 |title=Ringo Starr Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/ringo-starr-306872 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413073524/http://www.biography.com/people/ringo-starr-306872 |archive-date=13 April 2015 |access-date=25 April 2015 |publisher=Biography.com |ref=2}}</ref> was born on 7 July 1940 at 9 Madryn Street in [[Dingle, Liverpool|Dingle]], an inner-city area of [[Liverpool]]. He is the only child of [[Confectionery|confectioners]] Richard Starkey (1 October 1913 – 5 December 1981) and Elsie Gleave (19 October 1914 – 1 January 1987).<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|pp=15–16}}: Born at 9 Madryn Street, parent's occupations; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|p=142}}; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=332–333}}.</ref> Elsie enjoyed singing and dancing, a hobby that she shared with her husband, an avid fan of [[Swing (dance)|swing]].{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=332–333}} Prior to the birth of their son, whom they called "Ritchie", the couple had spent much of their free time on the local ballroom circuit, but their regular outings ended soon after his birth.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=333–334}} Elsie adopted an overprotective approach to raising her son that bordered on fixation. Subsequently, "Big Ritchie", as Starkey's father became known, lost interest in his family, choosing instead to spend long hours drinking and dancing in pubs, sometimes for several consecutive days.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=333–334}}

In an effort to reduce their housing costs, his family moved in 1944 to another neighbourhood in the Dingle, [[10 Admiral Grove|Admiral Grove]]; soon afterwards his parents separated, and they divorced within the year.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|p=17}}: Moving to 10 Admiral Grove in an effort to reduce their rent payments; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|p=142}}: his parents separated; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|p=334}}: divorced within the year.</ref> Starkey later stated that he has "no real memories" of his father, who made little effort to bond with him, visiting as few as three times thereafter.<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|2009|p=142}}: Visiting as few as three times thereafter; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|p=334}}: "no real memories" of his father.</ref> Elsie found it difficult to survive on her ex-husband's support payments of thirty [[shilling]]s a week, so she took on several menial jobs cleaning houses before securing a position as a barmaid, an occupation that she held for twelve years.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=334–335}}

[[File:Ringo Starr's Home Admiral Grove 10.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Starr's childhood residence at [[10 Admiral Grove]], Dingle, Liverpool, in 2010|alt=A colour photo of a white and pink cladded house]]
At the age of six, Starkey developed [[appendicitis]]. Following a routine [[appendectomy]] he contracted [[peritonitis]], causing him to fall into a coma that lasted days.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=336–337}}.</ref> His recovery spanned twelve months, which he spent away from his family at Liverpool's Myrtle Street children's hospital.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|pp=143–144}}.</ref> Upon his discharge in May 1948, his mother allowed him to stay at home, causing him to miss school.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=337}} At age eight, he remained illiterate, with a poor grasp of mathematics.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=337}} His lack of education contributed to a feeling of alienation at school, which resulted in his regularly playing truant at [[Sefton Park]].<ref>{{harvnb|Spitz|2005|p=337}}: a feeling of alienation at school; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|p=145}}: Sefton Park.</ref> After several years of twice-weekly tutoring from his surrogate sister and neighbour, Marie Maguire Crawford, Starkey had nearly caught up to his peers academically, but in 1953, he contracted [[tuberculosis]] and was admitted to a [[sanatorium]], where he remained for two years.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|p=17}}: His surrogate sister Marie Maguire; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=332–339}}: tuberculosis and the sanatorium.</ref> During his stay the medical staff made an effort to stimulate motor activity and relieve boredom by encouraging their patients to join the hospital band, leading to his first exposure to a percussion instrument: a makeshift [[percussion mallet|mallet]] made from a cotton [[bobbin]] that he used to strike the cabinets next to his bed.<ref>{{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=36}}: (primary source); {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=338–339}}: (secondary source).</ref> Soon afterwards, he grew increasingly interested in drumming, receiving a copy of the [[Alyn Ainsworth]] song "Bedtime for Drums" as a convalescence gift from Crawford.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=339}} Starkey commented: "I was in the hospital band ... That's where I really started playing. I never wanted anything else from there on ... My grandparents gave me a mandolin and a banjo, but I didn't want them. My grandfather gave me a harmonica ... we had a piano – nothing. Only the drums."{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=36}}

Starkey attended St Silas, a [[Church of England]] primary school near his house where his classmates nicknamed him "[[Lazarus of Bethany|Lazarus]]", and later [[King's Leadership Academy Liverpool|Dingle Vale]] [[Secondary modern school]], where he showed an aptitude for art and drama, as well as practical subjects including mechanics.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|pp=22–23}}: classmates nicknamed Starr "Lazarus"; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|pp=145–147}}: [[King's Leadership Academy Liverpool|Dingle Vale]] Secondary Modern; {{harvnb|Gould|2007|p=125}}: St Silas primary school.</ref> As a result of the prolonged hospitalisations, he fell behind his peers scholastically and was ineligible for the [[Eleven plus exam|11-plus]] qualifying examination required for attendance at a [[grammar school]].{{sfn|Clayson|2005|p=23}} After the extended hospital stay following Starkey's recovery from tuberculosis, he did not return to school, preferring instead to stay at home and listen to music while playing along by beating biscuit tins with sticks.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|pp=336–339}} On 17 April 1954, Starkey's mother married Harry Graves at the register office on Mount Pleasant, Liverpool.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2013|p=70}} He was an ex-Londoner who had moved to Liverpool following the failure of his first marriage. Graves, an impassioned fan of [[big band]] music and their vocalists, introduced Starkey to recordings by [[Dinah Shore]], [[Sarah Vaughan]] and [[Billy Daniels]].{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=340}} Graves stated that he and "Ritchie" never had an unpleasant exchange between them; Starkey later commented: "He was great ... I learned gentleness from Harry."{{sfn|Davies|2009|p=146}}

Beatles biographer [[Bob Spitz]] described Starkey's upbringing as "a [[Charles Dickens|Dickensian]] chronicle of misfortune".{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=332}} Houses in the area were "poorly ventilated, postage-stamp-sized ... patched together by crumbling plaster walls, with a rear door that opened onto an outhouse."{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=332}} Crawford commented: "Like all of the families who lived in the Dingle, he was part of an ongoing struggle to survive."{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=332}} The children who lived there spent much of their time at [[Prince's Park, Liverpool|Prince's Park]], escaping the soot-filled air of their coal-fuelled neighbourhood.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=332}} Adding to their difficult circumstances, violent crime was an almost constant concern for people living in one of the oldest and poorest inner-city districts in Liverpool.<ref>{{harvnb|Clayson|2005|p=16}}; {{harvnb|Davies|2009|p=141}}; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=332–335}}.</ref> Starkey later commented: "You kept your head down, your eyes open, and you didn't get in anybody's way."{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=335}}

After his return home from the sanatorium in late 1955, Starkey entered the workforce but was lacking in motivation and discipline; his initial attempts at gainful employment proved unsuccessful.<ref>{{harvnb|Gould|2007|p=125}}: his return from the sanatorium in 1955; {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=340–341}}.</ref> In an effort to secure himself some warm clothes, he briefly held a railway worker's job with [[British Rail]], which came with an employer-issued suit. He was supplied with a hat but no uniform and, unable to pass the physical examination, he was laid off and granted [[unemployment benefits]].<ref>{{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=36}}: (primary source); {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|p=340}}: (secondary source).</ref> He then found work as a waiter serving drinks on a day boat that travelled from Liverpool to North Wales, but his fear of conscription into military service led him to quit the job, not wanting to give the [[Royal Navy]] the impression that he was suitable for seafaring work.<ref>{{harvnb|The Beatles|2000|p=36}}: (primary source); {{harvnb|Spitz|2005|pp=340–341}}: (secondary source).</ref> In mid-1956, Graves secured Starkey a position as an apprentice machinist at Henry Hunt and Son, a Liverpool school equipment manufacturer.{{sfn|Starr|2015|loc=Chapter 2}} While working at the facility Starkey befriended Roy Trafford, and the two bonded over their shared interest in music.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=341}} Trafford introduced Starkey to [[skiffle]], and he quickly became a fervent admirer.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=341}}