JoJo Starbuck

Alicia "JoJo" Starbuck (born February 14, 1951, Birmingham, Alabama), is an American figure skater. With partner Kenneth Shelley, she is a three-time United States pair skating champion (1970–72) and two-time Olympian (1968, 1972).

JoJo Starbuck
Personal information
Alternative namesAlicia Starbuck
Country represented United States
Born (1951-02-14) February 14, 1951
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Former partnerKenneth Shelley
Former coachJohn Nicks
Skating clubArctic Blades FSC

Early life and youth career

Starbuck was raised in Downey, California and attended Cerritos College, along with Kenneth Shelley. She was first paired with Shelley for a show in 1959, when they were small children. They started training with coach John Nicks at the Arctic Blades FSC in 1961.

Championship career

In their first year of senior competitions, at age 16, they qualified to compete at the 1968 Winter Olympics. Both Starbuck and Shelley attended Downey High School, where they performed off-ice lifts with the cheerleading squad,[1] and Long Beach State College.[2]

Like Shelley, Starbuck was a skilled singles skater. While Shelley went on to win the national title in singles as well as pairs in 1972, Starbuck retired from singles competition in 1968.[1]

Success became found though in pairs. With Shelley became they did three-time United States pair skating champion (1970–72) and two-time Olympian (1968, 1972).[3] In the first Olylympics they finished 13th, in the second 4th.

Later career

After turning professional, Starbuck made occasional appearances skating singles in addition to continuing to skate pairs with Shelley. She partnered John Curry in the "Tango Tango" number from his show Ice Dancing.[4]

JoJo performed for a short time with the Ice Capades. From 1976-83, Starbuck was married to football quarterback Terry Bradshaw. She was Bradshaw's second wife.[5] During this time she also became well known as the face of Cup of Noodles, introducing [6] millions of Americans for the first time to ramen.

She currently is affiliated with the Rink at Rockefeller Plaza [7] a position she has had since the 1990s.

She had a minor career as an actress, performing in New York Stories (1989),[8] The Cutting Edge (1992),[9] and the TV movie Beauty and the Beast: A Concert on Ice (1996).[10]

She continues to coach[11] and choreograph.[12] Starbuck lives in Madison, New Jersey, where she teaches at the Essex Skating Club of New Jersey.[13][14]

Results

(pairs with Kenneth Shelley)

Event 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972
Winter Olympic Games13th4th
World Championships11th6th5th3rd3rd
North American Championships2nd1st
U.S. Championships1st J.3rd2nd1st1st1st

References
  1. "A Gutsy, Gutsy Team/Starbuck & Shelley", Skating Magazine, January 1970.
  2. "JoJo and Ken", Skating Magazine, December 1971.
  3. "JoJo Starbuck, Shelley, Retain Ice Figure Title", The Day (New London, CT); accessed November 3, 2014.
  4. Alone: The Triumph and Tragedy of John Curry (2014), Bill Jones, London: Bloomsbury (p. 204).
  5. The Best Pittsburgh Sports Arguments (2007), John Mehno, Sourcebooks, Inc.; ISBN 1-4022-0967-3 p. 225
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20140110151313/http://jojostarbuck.com/speaking
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20160318153648/http://jojostarbuck.com/skating-classes/newyorkcity/
  8. Francis Ford Coppola: interviews, Francis Ford Coppola, Gene D. Phillips, Rodney Hill, University Press of Mississippi; ISBN 1-57806-666-2, p.xxxii
  9. Bibliographic Guide to Dance(1994), v.20-23, New York Public Library
  10. "Television: Get a Haircut", John Leonard, New York Magazine, p.90
  11. "Olympian Starbuck Teaches Skating at Codey Arena", South Orange Patch, February 10, 2010
  12. IceCapades.tv Archived 2009-01-31 at the Wayback Machine, August 16, 2008.
  13. Seegers, Sandy. "STARBUCK SAYS IMPROPRIETIES AMONG JUDGES 'NOTHING NEW'", Daily Record (Morristown), February 15, 2002; accessed March 12, 2011. "Starbuck, a two-time Olympian, watched the competition live at her home in Madison and, like most of the world, felt that Sale and Pelletier were perfect."
  14. "Our Coaches", Essex Skating Club website; accessed November 3, 2014.
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