Flynn, Errol

(1909-1959)

   Born Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn in Hobart, Tasmania, the future movie star worked as a lifeguard, model, boxer, miner, and sailor before entering acting in London, England, in 1933. After playing roles in theater and small films in Great Britain, Flynn came to the United States in 1934. His breakthrough came in Captain Blood (1935), which established him as a swashbuckling romantic hero. Flynn went on to make 60 films, the most successful produced between 1935 and 1942. He starred in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prince and the Pauper (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Sea Hawk (1940), and They Died with Their Boots On (1942). He became an American citizen in 1942, and in the same year he was charged with statutory rape for having sexual relations with two underage girls. The trial pushed the war off the front pages. Flynn was acquitted, but his career never recovered. He made several war films, including Dive Bomber (1941) and Objective Burma (1945). After the war, he had some success with Don Juan (1948), but his performances were increasingly affected by alcoholism and poor health. He starred in The Sun Also Rises in 1957, based on the Ernest Hemingway novel, and he made only two other films before his death.