According to a famous quip from John Lennon, when asked if Ringo was the best drummer in the world, he said Ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles. But to be fair, that was some tough company to keep.
One superlative the man born as Richard Starkey Jr. can own among the rest of the Fab Four is that he is and was the best actor in the group. Tonight as Ringo Starr and his All Star Band makes its way to the Broward Center for Performing Arts, we honor this Beatle's return with his seven greatest appearances in the movies and on television.
7. Blindman
This grindhouse Western clearly influenced Quentin Tarantino. In the 1971 non-classic, Ringo is the sidekick to a blind gunman hired to escort fifty mail order brides to their husbands in the Old West.
6. Shining Time Station
Always the professional, Ringo never broke character as Mr. Conductor no matter how wooden his kid costars delivered their lines in this 1989 PBS children's series.
5. Help!
The Beatles loved comedy. This 1965 movie was inspired by the Marx Brothers, and the Beatles later said their true heirs were not in the music world but were the fabulous comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus.
In this scene, you can see that John Lennon might have been the band's wittiest member, but Ringo was the most committed to silliness.
4. Caveman
With one-liners like "He will teach man to walk erect" and "They don't call it the Stone Age for nothing," you can see why this 1981 slapstick flick disappeared from our collective memory. At least Ringo could spend some time with his wife on the set. Barbara Bach was a costar, along with Dennis Quaid and Shelly Long, from Cheers.
3. Thomas and Friends
For 52 episodes, not including various shorts, you can hear Ringo's thick accent narrate the adventures of the claymated and surprisingly deep Thomas the Tank Engine.
2. The Magic Christian
This is a 1969 lost counterculture classic. It's is a collection of absurdly funny sketches barely pinned together by the plot that Ringo Starr is a homeless man adopted by the richest man in the world, played by Peter Sellers. Hilarity ensues, as do a couple of Badfinger songs.
1. A Hard Day's Night
His first appearance on celluloid was arguably his best. Ringo wanders the street in the Beatles first movie, made in 1964.
He goes a bit method as he captures his alienation by making sure to be hungover for the filming of this scene as "This Boy" plays on the soundtrack.
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