Ricki Starr
| Ricki Starr | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bernard Herman |
| Born | 12 August 1931 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | 20 September 2014 (aged 83) London, England |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ricki Starr |
| Billed height | 5"10[1] |
| Billed weight | 207 lb (94 kg) |
| Debut | 1952 |
| Retired | 1977 |
Bernard Herman (12 August 1931 – 20 September 2014)[2] was an American-British professional wrestler, boxer and ballet dancer who spent his career in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe under the ring name Ricki Starr.
Professional wrestling career[edit]
Starr started out his career as an amateur boxer, before switching to ballet and becoming so successful that he enjoyed a run on Broadway.[3] Made his professional wrestling debut in 1952 in Texas. His wrestling gimmick was a ballet dancer where he did acrobatic moves in the ring. Starr popularized the airplane spin as his finisher, a move which called upon his ballet background to execute perfectly.
From 1957 to 1962, Starr worked in New York City for Capitol Wrestling Corporation.
In 1962, he made his first trip to England.
Later in his career, he wrestled in Mexico, France, Germany and Austria.
Personal life and death[edit]
After retiring from wrestling in 1977, Starr resided in London until his death.
Starr was considered to be one of the first openly homosexual wrestlers.[4]
On September 20, 2014, Starr passed away at the age of 83.[5]
Championships and accomplishments[edit]
- Dallas Wrestling Club / Southwest Sports, Inc.
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Pepper Gomez
- NWA Western States Sports
References[edit]
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Ricki Starr « Wrestlers Database « Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database".
- ^ "Profile". Wrestlingdata. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ http://www.oklafan.com/bios/view/2243/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Profile". The Epicenter of Wrestling. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ Oliver, Greg (1 October 2014). "With ballet slippers, a Starr was born". Slam! Wrestling. Canoe.com. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
- ^ Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Tag Team Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 275–276. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ^ Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2000). "Texas: NWA World Tag Team Title [Siegel, Boesch and McLemore]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved February 21, 2017.