I was in Doctors and had a very famous dad – but I quit fame for a surprisingly different job
FORMER Doctors actress Tara Coleman-Starr has turned her back on the TV industry and retrained in a totally different profession.
Tara, 26, played little Claire Thompson in the BBC medical drama as a child and is the real life daughter of late comedian Freddie Starr.
But as an adult, Tara – who did not have a close relationship with Freddie – decided not to pursue showbusiness.
In 2019, when her dad died suddenly from a heart attack, Tara had begun a career as an Integrative Counsellor.
Tara now practices in Solihull, West Midlands, with her private clients and has also worked for charities, including mental health organisation Mind.
She says on her website: “As an integrative counsellor, I believe that you are entirely unique, and so your counselling should be tailored to you.
“Because of that, I have specialised in up-to-date counselling theories at an advanced level, so that we can work together to get you from where you are, to where you want to be.”
Tara was just a little girl when she landed the role of Claire Thompson in Doctors.
The character was the daughter of Dr Helen Thompson and her husband Phil, who was later killed off in a car crash.
Tara played the part from 2000 to 2005. She was written out when Helen – played by Corrinne Wicks – left Letherbridge with her on-off flame Dr Marc Elliott.
Away from the show, Tara was raised by her TV production manager mum Trudy Coleman.
Tara’s father is the now late comedian Freddie Starr, who was famously accused of ‘eating a hamster’ in the 80s.
But it wasn’t a happy family story.
Following Starr’s death in the Costa Del Sol, Spain, aged 76, Tara spoke out about her memories of him.
She told the Sunday Mirror that her mum left Starr when she discovered he had been cheating on her with a woman 27 years his junior.
Tara said Starr decided he wanted nothing to do with her as a result and became aggressive.
She told the newspaper: “No one wants to believe their dad is an evil, manipulative man. He never gave me a birthday present or Christmas card. He never tried to be a father.”
Tara even said that she thought he was incapable of love and was embarrassed to be one of his six children.
Freddie died completely broke and “effectively alone”, despite earning £2million-a-year at one point.
Tara said: “I knew he used to beat mum. I was scared of what he was capable of. So I [once] locked myself in the bathroom.
“I’ll never forget what he said: ‘You can run but you can’t hide’.”
She was 15 when she last saw him, at which point he was married to Sophie Lea — she later divorced him saying he’d given her a black eye.