Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn

 Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (June 20, 1909 – October 14, 1959)

He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films and his playboy lifestyle. Flynn was an overnight sensation in his first starring role soon after arriving in Hollywood, Captain Blood (1935). Quickly typecast as a swashbuckler, he followed it with a succession of films over the next six years that re-invented the sophistication of the action-adventure genre, most of them under the direction of Michael Curtiz, viz. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936),The Prince and the Pauper (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938; his first Technicolor film and the role that would ultimately define him), The Dawn Patrol (1938), Dodge City (1939), The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) and The Sea Hawk (1940). Working throughout his career with a cross-section of Hollywood's best fight arrangers, Flynn became noted for his fast-paced sword fights as seen in The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk and Captain Blood. He also showed an acting range beyond purely action-adventure roles, both at light contemporary social comedy via performances in The Perfect Specimen (1937) and Four's a Crowd (1938), and melodrama in The Sisters (1938). Flynn had a reputation for womanizing, hard drinking, and for a while in the 1940s, narcotic abuse. His lifestyle caught up with him in public in 1942 when two underage girls accused him of statutory rape, The scandal received immense press attention with many of Flynn's movie fans refusing to accept that the charges were true, taking the image that they had of Flynn's screen persona as a reflection of his actual character in real life. The trial took place over January and February 1943, and Flynn was acquitted after a successfully aggressive defense by his lawyer castigated the accusing girls' morals and characters. However, with all of the vivid details played out by the media, Flynn's screen image was damaged.

Flynn, who had a heart ailment and suffered a heart attack in his 30's, died at age 50 in 1959 from an alleged heart attack. However, based on the story from his doctor, the cause was most likely a pulmonary embolism caused by a deep venous thrombosis in one or both of Mr. Flynn's legs. He is buried at Forest Lawn-Glendale.