Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn is the swashbuckling star of all
swashbucklers! The ultimate hero.
Errol Flynn was a superstar right from his first
starring role in Captain Blood, a film made in 1935, but the
films enormous success typecast Flynn as a swashbuckler and
the courageous hero roles flooded in with movies such as The
Adventures of Robin Hood, made in 1938 where he starred with
Olivia de Havilland, The Dawn Patrol, made in 1938 with Flynn
starring with his close friend David Niven, Dodge City, made
in 1939, The Sea Hawk, made in 1940, and Adventures of Don
Juan, made in 1948.
Flynn co-starred with Olivia de Havilland in
eight films, including Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light
Brigade, made in 1936, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge
City, Santa Fe Trail and They Died with Their Boots On. While
Flynn acknowledged his attraction to her, film historian Rudy
Behlmer's assertions that they were romantically involved
during the filming of Robin Hood have been disputed by de
Havilland. In an interview she said their relationship was
platonic, mostly because Flynn was already married to Lili
Damita. The Adventures of Robin Hood was Flynn's first film
in Technicolor.
During the shooting of the film The Private
Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, made in 1939, Flynn and co-star
Bette Davis quarreled off-screen, causing Davis to allegedly
strike him harder than necessary while filming a scene and
even though their relationship was strained, Warner Bros made
two films with the co-stars. Later, their off-screen relationship
was resolved.
Flynn was a member of Hollywood's famous cricket
club along with David Niven. His suave, debonair, and devil-may-care
attitude towards both ladies and life has been immortalized
in the English language by author Benjamin S. Johnson as "Errolesque"
in his treatise on the subject, An Errolesque Philosophy on
Life.
When America entered World War II, Flynn was
criticised for his failure to enlist and continue to play
war heroes in films. Flynn, in fact, had attempted to join
every branch of the armed services but was rejected for health
reasons. The studios' failure to counter the criticism was
due to a desire to hide the state of Flynn's health. Not only
did he have an enlarged heart, which had already resulted
in at least one heart attack, but he also suffered from tuberculosis,
a painful back, for which he self-medicated with morphine
and later, with heroin. He also suffered regular bouts of
malaria he had first contracted in New Guinea.
Towards the end of his life, Flynn become a
parody of himself. Drinking Heavily and drug abuse left him
prematurely aged and bloated, but he won acclaim as a drunken
ne'er-do-well in The Sun Also Rises, made in 1957, and as
his idol John Barrymore in Too Much Too Soon, made in 1958.
His autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, was published just
months after his death in 1959 at the age of 50. The autobiography
is a humorous, anecdotal book about life in Hollywood.
Tim Rees
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