The Epsteins owned a music store, which Brian took over later on. The family took over the store in the 1930's. Harry, Brian's father, married into another Jewish family. He married his wife Queenie in 1930 when she was eighteen years old and he was twenty-nine.
Brian, their older son, was born on September 19, 1934, in a private nursing home. Their second son, Clive, was born twenty-one months later. To his mother, Brian was the most beautiful child.
His first school was the Beechanhurst Kindergarten in Liverpool. In 1940, when he was six years old, Liverpool was under heavy bombing and the family moved to North Wales, then to Southport, which was a large Jewish community. Brian was sent to Southport College. Brian was very unhappy there.
At the College, Brian felt out of place. He was bullied by other children and by the masters. In 1943, the family returned to Liverpool and Brian started at the Liverpool College, a private school. At the age of ten, Brian got expelled.
Brian was unhappy most of the time, and not very good at school. In the schools, Brian felt like they were Anti-Semitism because often the kids called him a Jew.
After he was expelled from the Liverpool College, his parents put him in another private school, but only for a couple of weeks. The school cared little for the education of children but it was expensive. At last, they decided to put him in a good Jewish prep school called Beaconsfield. There, Brian took horseback riding, and art.
At thirteen, he took the common entrance exam, to get into a Headmasters' Conference private school. He failed the exam, but his parents continued to try and get him into one. In the end, Brian was forced to play rugby, which made him miserable.
In 1948, when Brian was fourteen, his father got him into Wrekin College, where he continued art classes. Brian started to make few friends. He became the top of the class in art, and then he decided to be a dress designer.
At the same time, Brian became interested in acting. He went to many plays with his mother. Brian was in a school production of O'Neill's Christopher Columbus. He left Wrekin just before he was sixteen, without getting his certificate. His father didn't like the idea of him becoming a dress designer, but Brian wanted to leave school and get a job.On September 10, 1950, he started working at the family store.
Brian started as a furniture salesman, and he found he was good at it. His father was happy he finally decided to come into the family business. He then decided to send brian to another firm for a six-month apprenticeship.
Brian spent the next six months at The Times furniture store. After the six months was done, he went back to the family store and started redecorating it.
On December 9, 1952, Brian Epstein was up for national services. He felt he wouldn't have made a very good soldier since he wasn't good at school. He also felt it was like prison and he did everything wrong. Brian didn't become an officer. He got charged with impersonating an officer, because he dressed like one.
This wasn't the first offense, he had been charged with other things. He then got referred to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrists decided Brian wasn't cut out for the service, and he was discharged.
Brian returned to the family store. He became interested in music, he was still interested in acting. He spent most of his spare time with two actors, Brian Bedford and Helen Lindsay. They suggested Brian become an actor. His father didn't like the idea of his son becoming one.
The same year Brian started at RADA. While he was there, his father kept asking him when he was coming back to the company business. He also openeda new branch in Liverpool, and his younger son Clive worked there.
Brian was put in charge of the record department. He worked out his own top twenty best-seller list of the pop records sold at the store. Brian worked hard, and by 1959, the store had a big pop and classical department which covered two floors of the store.
Another branch of the family store was opened because business went well. The new store was opened by Anthony Newley. Brian got in touch with him through the Decca sales contract. Except by 1961, he began to feel bored and frustrated with the business. He began to develop his social life more. Girls didn't find him attractive, but he started dating a girl from the record store, Rita Harris. The relationship didn't last, and he had violent relationships with other people. Brian became very lonely.
In the autumn of 1961, Brian went to Spain for five weeks. He was frustrated, and he had been too busy. In October of 1961, when Brian was twenty-seven, he had been a failed schoolboy, a successful furniture salesman, a failed soldier, a successful record salesman, a failed actor, and a successful record executive. When one day a customer asked for the Beatles.