Errol Flynn
born: 20-06-1909
birth place: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
died: 14-10-1959
Errol Flynn was born to parents Theodore Thomson Flynn, a biologist, and Marrelle Young, an adventurous young woman and descendant of a sailor on HMS Bounty.
Young Flynn was a unruly child who could be counted on to find trouble. When the family moved to England, Errol managed to have himself thrown out of every school he was enrolled in. In his late teens he set out to find gold, but instead found a series of short lived odd jobs.
Although he hadn't really planned on an acting career, Flynn become a star with his very first film, 'Captain Blood', in 1935. He was typecast as a swashbuckler and played the role in several films including 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', 'The Sea Hawk 'and 'The Adventures of Don Juan'.
He also played opposite Olivia de Havilland in the western movie, 'Dodge City' in 1939.
During the shooting of 'The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex', Flynn and co-star Bette Davis had some legendary off-screen fights. His reputation as a womaniser led to the expression "In like Flynn".
He was well known for having wild parties and was eventually brought up on a statutory rape charge, in 1942, by teenagers Betsy Hansen and Peggy Satterlee. The trial took place in January and February of 1943, and Flynn was cleared of the crime, but he suffered both personally and in his career.
By the mid 1950s, he was something of a self-parody, but still won some acclaim as a drunken ne'er-do-well in 'The Sun Also Rises'.
His autobiography was published just months after his death from alcoholism and contains humorous anecdotes about Hollywood. Flynn wanted to call the book 'In Like Me', but his publishers refused. It is instead called 'My Wicked, Wicked Ways'.
