Stephanie La Motta » Wiki

Stephanie was born in 1960 to American world-boxing Champion Raging Bull Jake La Motta and his wife Dimitria (who was known as Dolly). She was brought up in New York and gained early on from her parents a philosophic outlook and a great inner strength which served her well in her varying career life as an aspiring actress, a fitness guru, and in her magazine work.

She moved to England and settled down in London where she felt truly international with her American upbringing and her Greek heritage. "I am three parts Greek and speak the language fluently." During her time in London, Stephanie used to visit the famous London nightclub Tramp and this was where she came into contact with Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, and the pair of them hit it off right away, becomming quite inseperable.

"When I was first introduced to Ringo in Tramp, the London nightclub, I didn`t see anything but his big, beautiful, deep blue eyes. He asked if my waist-length hair was my own, then tugged it to check. I replied: `You could never but hair like this in a store.` Somehow over that drink the conversation got around to how Ringo hates New York because it`s full of cockroaches, so we clinked glasses and toasted the death of all cockroaches. I said he reminded me of Humphrey Bogart. Ringo - by this time I was calling him Richard - suavely lit two cigarettes in his mouth and gave me one. I couldn`t help giggling. I thought he was doing a Bogart. Then I realised it was Paul Henreid who did that for Bette Davis in Now Voyager. As we held hands under the table, he asked if I would go to Vienna with him next day. I couldn`t make up my mind. Ringo took me to a Mayfair disco and gave the doorman £100 to open up in the wee small hours so that we could dance for an hour. When Ringo toasted us with champagne he joked, `The bubbles tickle my nose.` He has quite a large nose. It`s quite adorable but his whole nose seemed to go right down into the champagne glass. Then Ringo`s ex-wife Maureen happened to come up, stared, looked me up and down and joked: `Who is this, Ringo, the next Mrs Starkey?` Ringo answered gently, `Maybe Maureen, but be sure you`ll be the first to know.` She was dismissed. He mentioned Vienna again, assuring me he wasn`t in the habit of picking up girls and flying of with them."

Stephanie made her mind up this time, collected her clothes and moved into Ringo`s Dorchester Hotel suite.

"I thought `My God, I`m going to have to sleep with this man tonight.` I stared at the two double beds. I didn`t want to sleep with him, have sex with him. I wanted to get to know him first. `It`s alright darlin,` Ringo said. `That`s your bed and the other one`s mine.` I usually sleep in a football sweatshirt with knee socks but I thought, `I can`t put them on.` So I put on a nightgown..Ringo looked over the top of his newspaper and said, `On second thoughts, darlin`, that`s your bed and it`s my bed too -but only if you want it to be.` I said yes I want it to be that way for now. But I fell fast asleep and an hour and 15 minutes later I woke up to find Ringo standing over my bed. I honestly thought I was dreaming. He said it was time to get dressed and leave for the airport.

"Later as we drove into Vienna from the airport, I wanted to use the bathroom. So we stopped at a little bar. Ringo insisted on coming with me and standing guard outside the ladies. Can you imagine? He has such good manners. Like the time he was in bed and found he had his back to me. He apologised and turned to face me - even though we were in the dark. Though we were already `in like with each other,` as Ringo put it, that`s where our days and nights of passion started, in that kingsize bed in the Bristol Hotel, Vienna... It suprised Ringo that I was so inexperienced, I think he was pleased I hadn`t slept with many men."

While In Vienna Stephanie started to feel very unwell but tried to hide it as best as she could.

"My vision was getting blurry, and for five minutes everything went black in my left eye. When I woke up I had a bad pain on the side of my head and in my left eyeball. I didn`t tell him about it because I didn`t want to spoil our happiness in Vienna. So he didn`t know what was going on. Then, just as he always did, he started to make me laugh. `Did I ever tell you about the time I got my nose stuck in a door?` he joked. As we left the restaurant we danced down the street singing Singing In The Rain."

It was during their stay at the Bristol Hotel in Vienna that Stephanie had her first meeting with another famous musician.

"I fell asleep in my little black camisole top and woke to find Ringo fast asleep wearing his mid-thigh length blue silk pyjama top buttoned right up to the neck. I heard somebody pounding on the door. It was a big scruffy man, but a handsome man, with shaggy reddish hair asking for Ringo. He looked sinister and sounded sinister. Suddenly