Errol Flynn

Ms. Olivia de Haviland and Rory Flynn
"I traveled to Paris last September and had the great privilege of meeting Ms. Olivia de Haviland, who welcomed me into her beautiful home with champagne and treats. I brought my dear friend Cooky, my brothers girlfriend, who is like my sister and who knows my family so well. We talked about my Dad. I told her stories and she told me stories. Mine were a little more personal for she was very curious as to the years I spent growing up with my Dad. She did tell me that my father was still an enigma to her. That she had never been able to figure him out.

Her presence was complete, her attention very directed, and her humor and high spirits was nothing less than an inspiration to me. How happy and welcoming she was to meet us. We had been corresponding for years and and I thought I may never get this chance, as time does fly by, and we are all so busy. She had just completed a video where she spoke about "Gone With the Wind" to commemorate the 50 years since it was made. She is very busy with her fan mail and other occasions that she is asked to attend. I left with such a great feeling, to have been able to talk about my Dad with all the love I have for him and find it reciprocated by such a lovely woman who is full of compassion and devotion to his memory."


Errol Flynn Centenary



It's a long journey down to Tasmania and this was my 3rd trip down in 7 months, all in preparation of the huge event called the Errol Flynn Centenary Celebration. This had been in the works for a year and a half. It all started with e-mails from Steve and Genene Randall who heads the Errol Flynn Society in Australia. They have always been sweet and thoughtful and I truly warmed to them soon enough. They have always felt my Dad deserved some honors and have been devoted to preserving his memory, so they proceeded to try and put things in order for the big birthday that was coming up. They brought Sonia Finlayson on to produce the event and to produce me, which she did. With all her charm and professionalism she started making things happen. She brought on board Tasmanian Perpetual Bank, who basically sponsored most of the events. She formed a committee and handed out the assignments. And gradually the film festival began to come together. The Hobart City Council approved the star that was to be embedded in the sidewalk outside the State Theatre. The State Theatre is where my Dad went as a young lad to see the newest films. Carol Edwards came up with this brilliant idea. They also launched a brochure for the tourist board that is all about my Dad and the houses he grew up in the schools he went to and where he learned his seamanship skills. The cocktail party was given for this brochure by Nevin and Rose Hurst that own the Masterpiece Gallery. Rose Hurst then approached The Heart Foundation with the idea that their annual Ball's theme be Errol Flynn and 'swashbuckling'.

The Hobart City Council has my enduring respect for allowing the star in front of the State Theatre, and for all their efforts towards celebrating their most famous native son. The Heart Foundation for the enormous work they did for the grand finale the yearly Ball in which my father was the theme. They made a fantastic ceremony, one I will never forget, honoring my dad with film clips, a short documentary and stage performances, including three performances by my son, Sean Flynn. It was a perfect starry night and I was all dressed up, full formal, a perfect way to end my whirlwind trip of 12 days.This would be the last event of the 2 week celebration.

Before the Ball, we had a day's journey on the Windward Bound, a beautiful sailing ship that took us all around the harbor and it was a perfect day, crispy with clear blue skies. My son and his girlfriend and friends of Flynn enjoyed the ride. Then we have the Australian/American committee that gave me and my family the most wonderful party and it just seemed like everyone opened their hearts and doors to us.

I want to tell everyone about the beauty of Tasmania. This small island, closest to the Arctic land mass has only half a million people and they are very proud of their small paradise. It's clean and organized and everyone seems to know each other. Then there is Bonorong Rescue Sanctuary and all the important work they do in rescuing animals, road kill survivors and the love and care they put into each animal. I have fallen in love with these dedicated people and visit every time I come to Tasmania.They saved a little devil there and named him Errol. Greg, who was the manager is now the owner of the place and please, if you can help contribute to save the Tasmanian Devil from extinction, please use the info below ... rory
SAVE THE TASMANIAN DEVIL
GPO Box 44, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
tele; (03) 6233 6556
tassiedevil.com.au
DevilDisease.Enquiries@dpiw.tas.gov.au





Errol Flynn

In his lifetime, Errol Flynn received no recognition from his peers at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He never attended a ceremony in his honor and was not nominated. Could be that his screen persona, the swashbuckler, the rake, stuck to him too well? Yet in his career he defined a male archetype and forever set his mark on movie maleness, in fact, created a constellation of manly virtues that even today is the stuff of dreams. It's time to bring the black sheep home. Long regarded as the prodigal son of Hollywood, with his real-life adventures, scrapes and insubordination, Errol Flynn lived every man's dream of a full life and found himself typecast. As an actor, Flynn built the foundation for characters later elaborated by Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarznegger, Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner. Flynn was the granddad of action heroes who came in with talking pictures, ushering in the era of action-adventure movies beloved of film buffs throughout the 20th century. He defined the swashbuckling heroic type invented in that era. While in the early years of silent pictures Douglas Fairbanks held sway as the man of filmic dreams, once the talkies arrived, Flynn was in the forefront of the action heroes' brotherhood. Flynn made movies, did his own stunts, lived his life, thumbed his nose at studio rules, left Jack Warner fuming in his Burbank office suite and went off to sea. Flynn had many interests, including writing and politics, which toward the end of his life in the late 1950s had him filming in Cuba, making him persona non grata in conservative Hollywood. Careers in the film business ebb and flow.Unfortunately, Flynn did not have a chance to make a comeback late in his career, but died at age 50 of a heart attack. Yet he did have a good run: fifty-three films, some for Jack Warner, others contracted out to MGM, across from great female players such as Olivia De Haviland, Maureen O'Hara, Bette Davis, Greer Garson and others.


News & Info

Dear supporters,
We have all struggled to have the Academy of Motion Pictures award a posthumous Oscar to Errol Flynn.

I'm sad to share with you all that the academy will not be able to do so... more

Rory Flynn's book has been published

The Baron of Mulholland

The book is available NOW!!! more

NEW!!
Listen to Rory Flynn reading an excerpt from the book


Rory at dad's star
Rory at dad's star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame



Errol and Grandson Rio - photo superimposed by Rory Flynn
Errol and Grandson Rio
(photo composition by Rory Flynn)

We get a lot of questions regarding the origination of the phrase
"In Like Flynn"

The phrase "In like Flynn" originated as a coarse reference to Errol Flynn's powers as a seducer. In November, 1942, Flynn was charged with statutory rape, arrested and brought to trial, then acquitted. He was charged with having sexual intercourse with two girls under the age of 18. (He was 33 at the time). It was Flynn's belief that the Los Angeles district attorney had made him a scapegoat for Hollywood in order to discipline the film community. Jerry Giesler (Flynn's ace lawyer) considered Flynn an excellent witness and thought that his "gentlemanly demeanor throughout the trial had been an important factor". A new phrase was added to the English language: "In like Flynn".
 
 
 
 
 

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