Lee Parkin Starkey was born in London, at Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital just months after the Beatles had broken up, on November 17th 1970. Her middle name, Parkin, was the reintroduction of a former Starkey family name. While Richie went to California, Maureen stayed at home watching Lee and her two older brothers, Zak and Jason. The Starkeys separated in 1974 and divorced in 1975 when Lee was almost 5 years old. Maureen got custody of the children while Richie was allowed visitation rights.

On April 27, 1981, Richie remarried to actress Barbara Bach. Lee was one of the bridesmaids along with new step-sister, Francesca. During the rest of the 1980s, Lee continued on with school however she had a problem with what career she wanted to do in life. After leaving King Alfred’s School in Hampstead at the age of 16 with no qualifications, she worked for a time at Tower Records and enrolled briefly in drama school, but dropped out after not liking it. She enrolled in a make up artist school and even though she managed to get her diploma, she didn`t like it either. She worked at Tower Records and A Hard Rock Cafe, which was owned by her step-father, Isaac Tigrett. She also co-starred in a car commercial with her father.

As a teenager, Lee was into the punk/goth scene and dressed in black and dyed her hair purple.

In the late 1980s, with friend Christian Paris, Lee opened a clothes boutique called Planet Alice in Portobello Road, wich specialized in 1960s clothes. Her mother married Isaac Tigrett in 27th May 1989 and moved to Los Angeles, prompting Lee to ask her partner if they could relocate their boutique there, which they did in 1991, when Lee was 20. At the official opening of the store, situated on Melrose Avenue, Ringo and Barbara and Maureen and Isaac were in attendance.
During the year, Lee moved into a house in Beverly Hills which she shared with her brothers, Jason and Zak, her mother, step-father, and half sister, Augusta, but her boutique closed within a year and she moved back to Britain, into the flat next to Warwick Avenue tube station where Ringo used to live in the 1970s

However in 1994, Lee rushed to her mother`s side when Maureen was diagnosed with leukemia. Lee stayed with her mother, taking care of her mother. On December 30, 1994, Lee was at her mother`s bedside when Maureen passed away.

In August of 1995, Lee collapsed in England and was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with brain tumor. She had previously had numbness in her leg and arm, however luckily, the tumor was curable. Richie and Zak were touring together in the United States and cancelled their All-Starr band tour to be by her side. Lee was transferred to a hospital in the United States to continue on with her treatments. Within three weeks she was undergoing a second operation at Brigham Women’s Hospital, Boston, and this time for a tumor. She was then given radiation treatment. Lee moved into her stepfather’s house in Mulholland Drive in the San Fernando Valley to recuperate. Her maternal grandmother, Flo Cox, also lived there, together with Lee’s half-sister, Augusta. She returned to Britain in December 1995 to spend Christmas with the family

In 2001, the tumor returned and Lee went back for more treatments. At this time, Lee is in the clear. Lee lives in London and is currently a make up artist and a fledging fashion designer. She has been seen at her brothers` concerts, Stella`s fash

Post a Comment | View All Comments (6)