|caption = At the Floral Pavilion Theatre, [[New Brighton, Merseyside]] ...]] during the [[Second World War]], and after the family returned to their Merseyside home mistakenly thinking the area had escaped the German bombs, his elder b

...his father's variety act, known as ''Jimmy James and Co''. After retiring from the BBC in the 1980s, he resurrected the act and toured the surviving varie ...sixteen years on the [[BBC Light Programme]] and [[BBC Radio 2]], running from 1957 to 1972 inclusive, based on a chance meeting with Jimmy Clitheroe on a

...apped'', Starr gives speech problems as the reason he spent two years away from home as a child.<ref>{{cite web |title=Freddie Starr reveals misery of chil Starr was encouraged by his mother to perform from the age of 12 working in clubs and pubs. For five years, he was a member of

...creen-8916513.html "Graham Stark: Actor, author and director who graduated from music hall to the big screen"], ''The Independent'', 31 October 2013</ref> ...n Victoria run by [[Jimmy Grafton]], a venue at which soon-to-be-prominent entertainers of the next few decades regularly gathered.<ref name="Telegraph"/>

...plan/life-at-sea/gaylife/polari.aspx|title=The secret language of polari - Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool museums|website=Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk|access-d ...men joined [[ocean liner]]s and [[cruise ships]] as waiters, stewards, and entertainers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floo

...e ukulele to his performance. He started his recording career in 1926 and, from 1934, he increasingly worked in film to develop into a major star by the la ...s—particularly [[Charlie Drake]] and [[Norman Wisdom]]—and, culturally, on entertainers such as [[the Beatles]], who referred to him in their music. Since his deat