Flynn, Errol

Flynn, Errol (Leslie Thomson)

(born June 20, 1909, Hobart, Tas., Austl.—died Oct. 14, 1959, Vancouver, B.C., Can.) Australian-U.S. film actor. He sought adventure in New Guinea before turning to acting in Australia and England. In 1935 Warner Brothers brought him to Hollywood, and he became an instant success as the swashbuckling hero of Captain Blood. He continued to play dashing heroes through the 1940s in films such as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), and Gentleman Jim (1942). After a period marred by scandal and bad roles, he returned to critical and popular praise in The Sun Also Rises (1957).

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Flynn, Errol (1909–59) actor; born in Hobart, Tasmania. Son of an Australian biologist/zoologist, he was schooled in England and Australia. From 1924–33, he led an adventurous life around the Pacific before showing up in England where he took up acting; this led to his debut in the film In the Wake of the Bounty (1933). He arrived in Hollywood in 1935 and with Captain Blood (1935) launched his career as a handsome swashbuckling star. His heavy drinking, drug-taking, and womanizing caused his career to falter by the late-1940s, even though he was acquitted of statutory rape charges of two teenage girls on his yacht; his final decade was spent in desperate attempts to revive his career and bank account. At his best he was the epitome of a movie star.