Hollywood actor Errol Flynn: biography, filmography and personal life

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Flaming actor Errol Flynn lived a short but eventful life. His roles of noble robbers and brave heroes in the cinema were remembered by the audience for a long time. He was a real Hollywood sex idol for 20 years. In total, he managed to play 30 notable roles, but each of them became an important page in the history of cinema.

Early years

June 20, 1909 on the Australian island of Tasmania begins a new acting biography. Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born into the family of a biologist who studies the depths of the sea, and Lily Marie Young, who, according to family mythology, was descended from the rebel of the famous ship "Bounty" Fletcher Christian. His parents were Australians of British descent. As a child, the future actor was a naughty and restless child. Parents sent him to many of the best schools in the UK, but everywhere he was expelled for bad behavior and poor progress, and from a school in Sydney, where Errol studied in the same class as future Australian Prime Minister John Gorton, he was expelled for having an affair with a minor daughterschool laundress. At the age of 15, he finally dropped out of school, deciding to arrange his fate on his own.

Find yourself

At 15, Errol Flynn takes a job as a clerk in a shipping company in Sydney, but his restless nature does not allow him to sit in one place for long. For several years he tried different professions: a cook, a policeman, a pearl diver, a gold digger. While working for a tobacco company in New Guinea, he begins writing for a newspaper. At the age of 20, he acquires his own yacht "Sirocco", on which, together with friends, he travels from Australia to New Guinea. Flynn will describe this fascinating seven-month journey in a book that will be published in 1937. In 1930, Flynn with a yacht is hired by Dr. Herman Erben, who studied tropical diseases, together they travel along the longest river in New Guinea - the Sepik, and shoot a documentary about these little-known places. In 1933, Flynn returned to Australia in search of a new job, and at that time his photograph caught the eye of a producer who was recruiting actors for a popular science film about Christian Fletcher, a participant in the mutiny on the Bounty ship. Errol's personality was perfect for the story, and he gets a small role in the adventure film. He liked this work so much that after filming he leaves for London, where he has been working in several theaters for 1.5 years, gaining skills.

Test of strength

Flynn Errol (biography, whose early career interestsmany), had an appearance that corresponded to the then canons of male beauty: tall, courageous, with a charming smile and devilry in his eyes. Already in 1934, filmmakers noticed a novice actor and invited him to play a role in the film "Murder in Monte Carlo", where he made a very worthy debut in feature films. After such a successful start, he receives an invitation to Hollywood. The biography of Flynn Errol has now forever been associated with cinema. At first, he gets supporting roles with a fee of $ 150 per week of filming, his early works "Don't Bet on Blondes", "The Case of the Curious Newlywed" allowed him to learn how to behave in front of the camera. In 1935, luck smiles at Errol: he gets a role in the action adventure Captain Blood's Odyssey. He is invited to take the place of Robert Donat, who suddenly abandoned the role, and this has become a huge success for the aspiring actor. In this picture, for the first time, he plays in tandem with Olivia de Havilland, a future movie star of the 30s and 40s. This role became a star for Flynn, it brought him to the front row of Hollywood movie stars. The picture receives 5 Oscar nominations and collects full cinema halls.

Glory Years

In the late 30s, Errol Flynn becomes one of the leading actors in Hollywood. He is especially successful in heroic roles, in which his character is fully manifested. For five years, he starred in several major films with huge budgets: "The Adventures of Robin Hood", "Attack of the Light Horse", "The Prince and the Pauper", "Morning Patrol", "Dodge City". Theseadventure films create for him the role of a brave hero, a favorite of women and a defender of justice. Flynn also plays several dramatic roles that reveal the fullness of his talent: "Sisters", "Green Light", "New Dawn" and tries his hand at comedies: "Four are already a crowd", "Perfect Exemplars". They work hard together with Olivia de Havilland, who is also a big star.

In the early 1940s, Errol Flynn became a leading actor at Warner Bros. entertainment. A charming handsome man with a slight squint and a noble soul became the embodiment of women's ideas about the ideal man. He perfectly succeeds in roles in historical, costumed films - "The Private Life of Elizabeth and Essex", in westerns - "Virginia City" and "Road to Santa Fe", adventure films - "Sea Hawk". In 1940, he was recognized as the fourth most popular actor in the US and seventh in the UK, his fees rose to 2.5 thousand dollars a week.

War period

During the Second World War, there are new films with the actor. Errol Flynn does not change his role as a hero, but the plots of the paintings acquire a patriotic coloring. The film Dive Bomber wins an Oscar for cinematography, the drama They Died in Their Posts became the eighth and last work in a duet with Olivia de Havilland. Flynn dreamed of going to the front, but his he alth did not allow him, so he continues to act in films, embodying heroism on the screen. Brilliant were his roles in the drama "Edge of Darkness", in a spy thriller"Northern Chase", in the melodrama "Dubious Glory". Target Burma, in which Flynn plays the heroic Captain Nelson, who leads a detachment of American commandos on a combat mission behind enemy lines in Burma, received three Oscar nominations. Errol's fame remains at its zenith, in 10 years he starred in 11 films and earns huge money for those times - 200 thousand dollars a year.

Hollywood star of the late 40s - early 50s

The second half of the 40s is less productive for Errol Flynn. He starred in significant films: Lone Wolf, Never Say Goodbye, Silver River, Never Leave Me, The Forsyte Saga, The Adventures of Don Juan, in which Hollywood stars become his partners Cast: Ann Sheridan, Greer Garson, Ida Lupino, Barbara Sianwick.

But the beginning of the 50s again makes Flynn a very popular actor, for 5 years he starred in 15 films, not all of them were masterpieces, but among them there are obvious successes: Montana, Crossed Swords, "Master Ballantrae". But the actor is aging and no longer causes such crazy love from fans. In 1952, he terminated his contract with Warner Bros. and leaves for the UK, filmed in Europe, but the level of work is gradually declining.

Private life

Actor Errol Flynn is known as a reveler and lover of women. He was married three times. His first marriage was in the early 1930s, to Lily Damita, a French actress, he stole from director Michael Curtiz, in 1935year they got married. In 1941, Lily gave birth to Flynn's son Sean, who was in for a tragic fate. He worked as an actor, filmed a little with his father, then became a photojournalist and went missing in 1970 in Cambodia, where he was captured by partisans.

In 1943, the actor marries Nora Edington, who was the daughter of a sheriff and worked part-time in the courtroom where Flynn was being tried, selling sweets and cigarettes. Later she became an actress, starred in episodes in mid-level films. Nora gave birth to two daughters: Rory and Deirdre, both became actresses and starred in American films. In 1949, Nora leaves Errol and marries actor Dick Hymes.

In 1950, Flynn remarries actress Patricia Wymore, with whom he will live until the end of his days.

In addition to marriages, Flynn had a whole series of novels, including with famous women, for example, with the Romanian princess Ira Ghika. The actor had a passion for travel all his life and traveled a lot on his yacht to different countries. In 1946 he sailed to Jamaica, where he bought a large house and land. Flynn was not known for a calm disposition, he liked to drink and especially liked women.

Scandals and accusations

Errol Flynn, because of his character, has repeatedly initiated scandals. So, in 1943, he was put on trial on charges of raping a minor. Despite numerous evidence of guilt, the jury finds him innocent. Litigation did not hurt careeractor, Errol Flynn, whose films were filled with houses, becomes a real sex symbol of the era. In court, Flynn would later try to reduce the amount of alimony to his ex-wife Nora, which also became the subject of press interest. Journalists wrote about the novel and drunken antics of Errol with particular pleasure, they also inflated the scandal of the actor's friendship with Herman Erben, who was caught collaborating with the Nazis.

The end of the journey

Since the mid-1950s, Errol Flynn, whose filmography already included about 50 films, has been removed less and less. Among the successful works, one can name only “Too Much, Too Soon”, “The Sun Also Rises”, “Roots of the Sky”. In 1957, the Errol Flynn Theater series was released on British television, consisting of 30-minute episodes on various romantic themes, a total of 26 episodes were released, and the project did not receive much success. A turbulent personal life and a chronic heart disease that once prevented him from going to war made themselves felt - on October 14, 1959, Errol Flynn suddenly died in Vancouver from a heart attack. But the actor's work remained in the golden fund of cinema, in 1995 he even entered the hundred of the sexiest actors in the world, and his role as Robin Hood ranks 16th in the ranking of the greatest movie heroes.