Ken Shelley and JoJo Starbuck

Birmingham native Alicia “JoJo” Starbuck (1951- ) is a former competitive pairs figure skater who represented the United States in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. During that time, she was part of the duo that won three U.S. Championships and gold medals in two World Championships. Starbuck also served as an instructor, coach, and choreographer. Starbuck and fellow Birmingham native John Luther Zimmerman are so far the only two Alabamians in the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.

Starbuck was born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, on February 14, 1951, to Henry Francis Starbuck Jr. and Alice Plunkett Starbuck; she had a sister. After Starbuck’s father died in 1965, her mother relocated the family to California in pursuit of work. Most of her formative years were spent in Downey, California, in southeast Los Angeles County. After receiving ice skates for Christmas when she was young, Starbuck started figure skating regularly at the now-defunct Downey School of Ice Skating. When she was eight, she was paired with Kenneth Shelley, and the duo started training with British figure skating coach John Nicks and the Arctic Blades Figure Skating Club in the 1960s. She attended Cerritos College, a public community college in Norwalk, California, as did Shelley. They would become part of a new generation of young American skaters entering international competition following an airplane accident on February 15, 1961, in which the entire U.S. figure skating team lost their lives.

When Starbuck and Shelley were 16, they qualified for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. They are the youngest pairs team in American Olympic history and were jokingly referred to as “Olympic Babies.” The U.S. Olympic team won a gold and silver medal in figure skating singles but did not win a medal in pairs. Starbuck and Shelley finished 13th out of 18 competitors, and they were the lowest ranked pairing of the three American pairs at the 1968 Olympics.

Two weeks later, Starbuck and Shelley competed in the 1968 World Figure Skating Championships in Geneva, Switzerland. The pair was one of three American figure skating couples to compete. American pair Cynthia Kauffman and Ronald Kauffman finished third, Sandi Sweitzer and Roy Wagelein finished eighth, and Starbuck and Shelley finished 11th in the competition. Still in high school, the pair returned to California and practiced off-ice as cheerleaders.

From 1968 to 1972, the pair competed in the World Championships and won bronze medals in 1971 and 1972, during the height of the U.S.-Soviet figure skating rivalry. Between 1970 and 1972, Starbuck and Shelley won three consecutive gold medals in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The pairing went to their second Olympic games in 1972 in Sapporo, Japan. Unlike Starbuck, Shelley competed in the men’s singles and finished fourth. In the pairs competition, Starbuck and Shelley improved drastically from their previous Olympics. They finished fourth out of 16 pairings, losing to two Soviet pairs and a pair from East Germany.

After concluding her amateur career, Starbuck became a professional skater with the Ice Capades in 1972. A traveling entertainment show founded in 1940, the Ice Capades featured some of the best skaters in the United States. Shelley joined in 1972, and the pair toured nationally and internationally. On average, the couple skated 43 weeks out of the year. From 1977 to 1980, Starbuck partnered with Olympic champion John Curry and appeared on Broadway and at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House in shows that blended figure skating and theater choreography. In addition, Starbuck worked with skating stars Ekaterina Gordeeva of Russia and Americans Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

In 1986, Starbuck created Starbuck & Company, a special-events production group. The company organizes ice skating entertainment for promotional and fundraising events and has been involved in producing numerous television specials. One of the productions Starbuck oversaw for many years was the annual opening of the Rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City. In addition, Starbuck was also a well-known spokesperson for Cup O’ Noodles.

In the 1980s, Starbuck began starring in television programs and films. In 1980, she appeared in an episode of Broadway on Showtime, which presented theatrical performances on Broadway for television audiences. Starbuck also appeared as herself on an episode of the sitcom Webster. She demonstrated her skating skills in multiple films, including The Snow Queen: A Skating Ballet in 1982 and New York Stories in 1989. She had a speaking role as an interviewer in the 1992 film Cutting Edge, which depicted a young figure skater and a hockey player who partner to become a figure skating team for the Olympics. In later years, Starbuck appeared on television specials about ice skating, including 2018’s Public Broadcasting Service program on figure skating company The World of Ice Dance International.

From 1976 to 1983, Starbuck was married to professional football player Terry Bradshaw and became a frequent attendee of Pittsburgh Steelers home football games. She later married architect Jeff Gertler, with whom she had twin boys. In 1994, Starbuck and Shelley were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame. The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inducted Starbuck in 2002, and she is currently the only ice-skating inductee.

Presently residing in New Jersey, Starbuck is active in supporting local organizations, including the Walter Hoving Home for Girls, World Vision, Compassion International, and Prison Fellowship. Starbuck currently teaches skating courses and developmental workshops for amateur ice skaters. Hosting clinics and courses across the country, Starbuck continues to teach ice skaters, including adults, freestyle skating techniques and figure skating skills.