Errol Flynn

Birthday

1909-06-20

Place of Birth

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Biography

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (June 20, 1909 - October 14, 1959) was an Australian-American actor and writer. He is popularly remembered as a charismatic romantic hero in the eight films he starred in with Olivia de Havilland. Flynn’s most iconic role came as Robin Hood in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938). After signing with Warner Bros. Pictures in January 1935, Flynn’s rise to stardom was swift. The studio decided to take a risk casting the unknown 26-year-old as the lead in "Captain Blood" (1935). The film established Flynn as a major Hollywood star and the natural successor to Douglas Fairbanks. The smash hit was followed up by "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1936) and "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), the most expensive film Warner Bros. had made up to that time. In spite of his Australian accent, Flynn starred in the enormously successful westerns "Dodge City" (1939), "Virginia City" (1940), "Santa Fe Trail" (1940), and "They Died with Their Boots On" (1941). The popularly of these westerns played a part in the genre’s revival. In late 1942, Flynn was charged with statutory rape of two 17-year-old girls. Despite his acquittal, press coverage of the trial led to the ubiquity of the expression, “In like Flynn.” With America’s involvement in WWII, Flynn had tried to enlist but was rated 4-F due to his enlarged heart, latent pulmonary tuberculosis and recurrent malaria (contracted in New Guinea). During the war, he made several films with the director Raoul Walsh. These include "Gentleman Jim" (1942) – one of Flynn’s favorite roles – and war films such as "Desperate Journey" (1942) and "Objective, Burma!" (1945). Embittered by his public image as a womanizer and his inability to serve in the war, Flynn further descended into a life of drug-addiction and alcoholism. His slow deflation became apparent in the waning success of his films and his aging physical appearance. By the late '50s, Flynn mounted a comeback with his turns in "The Sun Also Rises" (1957), "Too Much, Too Soon" (1958) and "The Roots of Heaven" (1958). In 1959, he died of a heart attack in Vancouver, Canada. Flynn’s notorious autobiography "My Wicked, Wicked Ways" (1959) was posthumously published. He also wrote two novels: "Beam Ends" (1937) and "Showdown" (1946).
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Mara Maru

Mara Maru

1952 6
Mara Maru

as Gregory Mason

1952
Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain

1950 6.7
Rocky Mountain

as Capt. Lafe Barstow

1950
Kim

Kim

1950 6.5
Kim

as Mahbub Ali, the Red Beard

1950
Montana

Montana

1950 6.2
Montana

as Morgan Lane

1950
Rabbit Hood

Rabbit Hood

1949 7.7
Rabbit Hood

as Robin Hood (archive footage) (uncredited)

1949
Cry Wolf

Cry Wolf

1947 6.5
Cry Wolf

as Mark Caldwell

1947
Northern Pursuit

Northern Pursuit

1943 6.6
Northern Pursuit

as Corporal Steve Wagner

1943
Desperate Journey

Desperate Journey

1942 6.8
Desperate Journey

as Flight Lt. Terry Forbes

1942
Gentleman Jim

Gentleman Jim

1942 7.6
Gentleman Jim

as James J. Corbett

1942
Footsteps in the Dark

Footsteps in the Dark

1941 6.7
Footsteps in the Dark

as Francis Monroe Warren II, alias F.X. Pettijohn

1941
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