From Hollywood to Shropshire: Movie star Poncho the parrot retires to pet shop perch

But this is not your average Tinseltown diva. Poncho is a parrot.

The green wing macaw has featured in several films, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Doctor Doolittle and 102 Dalmations.

But she has now taken up residence at a new exotic pet shop which has opened in Shrewsbury on the site of a former Spar shop in Ditherington Road.

Beck's Pets and Exotics has animals for sale including other parrots, as well as reptiles such as lizards and snakes.

Owner Sophie Williams said Poncho had been with her family for several years, coming into their possession after she travelled to the UK for filming on 2000 film 102 Dalmations, but was deemed too old to make the journey back to America.

The parrot was owned by Birds and Animals Unlimited, which provides creatures to both Warner Brothers and Universal.

Retirement

Sophie said her mother Rebecca Taylor, who runs Beck's Bird Barn in Telford, was offered Poncho as she knew someone from Birds and Animals.

The parrot had been with the family ever since and stays with them in at the farm in Ellerdine overnight, but has been coming to the new shop in Shrewsbury each day since it opened about two weeks ago.

Sophie said Poncho had adapted well to her retirement in Shropshire after swapping the bright lights of the American film industry for the county.

"She is 87 years old. Usually, parrots are a bit like people – some don't make it past 50," she said.

"Because she is so old she doesn't fly any more. I actually haven't seen the films, but so many people are coming in just to see her. She goes back to the farm at night and comes with me to the shop."

Sophie said Poncho had been chosen for films because of her ability to act in an apparently angry manner.

"She could go at people with her beak open. Those were the shots they wanted," she said.

Her Hollywood career included appearances in 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which starred Jim Carrey as a zany investigator who goes in search of a missing dolphin mascot of a football team.

And she popped up in another animal film four years later, as Eddie Murphy took on the role of Doctor Doolittle for a remake of the 1967 movie, which was based on the books by Hugh Lofting.

Poncho was in front of the cameras for the final time in 102 Dalmations, which starred Glenn Close as Cruella de Ville in a live-action sequel in 2000 and made $183 million (£113 million) across the world when it was released.

But with Poncho's acting career now at an end, she has become a valued part of Miss William's family and, despite her daily appearances at the pet shop, is definitely not for sale.

Liquidation

The new exotic pet shop has taken on the site previously occupied by a Spar store which closed in January when its owner, the Robert Beatty Company, went into liquidation. Sophie said she decided to set up the new shop after spotting a gap in the market.

"There really isn't anything in Shrewsbury with exotic pets. A lot of towns have anything between five to 11 pet shops, but Shrewsbury has only got one or two.

"It has been going quite well so far and it is really promising."