Ringo Starr Lost His Chance at a Relationship Because He Wasn’t an ‘Intellectual’: ‘He Was Dumb’
After The Beatles played The Ed Sullivan Show, Ringo Starr displayed interest in dancer Geri Miller, but their flirtation never progressed to a relationship. According to Miller, she and Starr talked through the night together but didn’t take things much further. He wasn’t her usual type. Miller said she typically preferred an “intellectual,” and Starr didn’t fit into this category in her mind.
The Beatles played ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in the 1960s
In 1964, The Beatles ignited full-blown Beatlemania with their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. On the show, Sullivan introduced them by noting that Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had sent the band well wishes.
“You know something very nice happened and The Beatles got a great kick out of it,” Sullivan said, per the book Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr. “We just received a wire, they did, from Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker wishing them a tremendous success in our country and I think that was very, very nice.”
The band performed “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” during the broadcast. Many future musicians have said that the band’s appearance on the show was foundational to their careers.
Ringo Starr pursued a relationship with a dancer
After their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the band spent time in New York, hopping between various different clubs. At the Peppermint Lounge, Starr met Miller, a dancer. She didn’t initially have her eye on him, though.
“Sure enough, at half past twelve, the Beatles were sitting ring-side, sipping Scotch and coke and watching our revue!” Miller explained. “I flipped immediately over George. I thought he was gorgeous.”
Harrison, however, was recovering from an illness and returned to the hotel early. Miller then noticed Starr looking at her.
“As I spun around, I caught Ringo staring at me intently,” she said. “Afterwards he invited me over to join his table, there were no chairs vacant, so I did the next best thing . . . I SAT ON HIS LAP!”
Starr went back to her apartment later and, according to Miller, they talked until seven in the morning. Eventually, she said, he left to “get some sleep … I ran into the hallway and gave him a Peppermint Lounge souvenir key-chain and told him to ‘use it and think of me’…He kissed me again and said goodnight.”
She didn’t pursue anything further with him, though. He wasn’t her type.
“He was dumb,” she later said. “You see I’m stupid in the way he was stupid and I like someone who’s really intellectual.”
Ringo Starr had a more long-term relationship with his future wife
At this point, Starr had already met his future wife, Maureen. They married in 1965 after she discovered she was pregnant.
“She doesn’t talk much but what she does say is sensible,” journalist Maureen Cleave said, per Express. “She adores him and calls him Richie. They always sit very close, side by side, and Ringo always lights two cigarettes simultaneously, one for her and one for him.”
The couple had three children together and divorced in 1975.
