Rory Flynn has fond memories of her father, the legendary Errol Flynn. She would often drift off to sleep listening to the rhythmic scratching of his pen against paper. “He was constantly writing,” Rory reminisces about the 1930s matinee idol. “He was working on his autobiography from a very early age.” Flynn's memoir, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, hit bookstores just two months after his untimely death at age 50. In it, the Tasmanian-born actor portrayed himself as an even more audacious rogue than the dashing characters he played on the silver screen. “I have been in rebellion against God and government ever since I can remember,” Errol wrote. Despite his rakish reputation overshadowing his work, Thomas McNulty, author of Errol Flynn: The Life and Career, tells Closer that Flynn possessed one of the most magnetic screen presences ever and was a far better actor than people gave him credit for. “The biggest misconception was that he didn’t care about what he was doing; he cared deeply,” McNulty insists.
Before Errol Flynn became a Hollywood legend, he led a life filled with adventure. Growing up in Australia, he spent his early years working on ships and plantations in Papua New Guinea, taking on odd jobs. His big break came in 1935 when he was cast opposite Olivia de Havilland in Captain Blood. This swashbuckling romantic adventure made the then 26-year-old Flynn and the 19-year-old de Havilland overnight sensations. Their on-screen chemistry was electric, leading to seven more films together. Olivia confessed in 2009 that she found Errol charming in real life as well. “I was very attracted to him,” she admitted. “But I said that nothing could happen while he was still with Lili.”
A Life of High Adventure
Actress Lili Damita was Flynn’s first wife, and like the others, she faced his infidelities. “Women would just show up on the set and follow him around. He literally had to fend them off,” recalled Richard Erdman, who worked with Flynn on Objective, Burma! in 1945. Flynn’s lavish home on Mulholland Drive became a hotspot for wild parties with other actors, stuntmen, and hangers-on. He pursued any woman who caught his eye, famously quipping, “I like my whiskey old and my women young.” Flynn allegedly installed two-way mirrors to spy on his guests. As his reputation as a libertine grew, the phrase “In like Flynn” emerged, symbolizing sexual success. “I think what fascinated men was that he did exactly what he pleased,” Rory explains. “Dad always did what he wanted, when he wanted. There wasn’t a man alive who didn’t envy that.”
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The Scandal That Changed Everything
In 1943, Flynn’s carefree lifestyle came crashing down when two teenage girls accused him of statutory rape. The trial was a media circus, and although Flynn was acquitted, his public image was permanently tarnished. “The rape trial began his slow decline, both personally and professionally,” McNulty says. Flynn’s personal life spiraled out of control, as did his drinking. By 1959, Flynn suffered a fatal heart attack, cutting short a promising career resurgence as a character actor. Despite his flaws, Hollywood mourned him as one of the last larger-than-life leading men of the Golden Age. In his memoir, Flynn reflected, “Maybe it wasn’t all a waste. Anybody who can bring a few moments of happiness to another human life certainly can’t be wasting his time in an otherwise fear-ridden and often very drab world.”
— Louise A. Barile, with reporting by Fortune Benatar
