Line #34 Creator/ErrolFlynn


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/errol_flynn_photo.jpeg]]
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3	->''"The public has always expected me to be a playboy, and a decent chap never lets his public down."''
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5	Ladies and gentlemen, meet Errol Leslie Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959), the quintessential lighthearted and dashing ActionHero of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.
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7	Born in ‎Battery Point, Tasmania‎, his very first film role was a bit part as Fletcher Christian in an Australian documentary, ''In the Wake of the Bounty'', in 1933; the next year he played his first Hollywood part, the nearly-silent role of a murder victim seen alive only in flashback in the Franchise/PerryMason mystery, ''Film/TheCaseOfTheCuriousBride''.
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9	When English actor Creator/RobertDonat bowed out of ''Film/CaptainBlood'' for reasons of illness, the newcomer Flynn was cast in the part of the adventurous Peter Blood. Flynn was catapulted to instant superstardom with practically no prior roles in movies whatsoever. This was in stark contrast to the practice of the time when nearly every other actor had to play bit parts and supporting roles for years before he became a star.
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11	He was popular not only in swashbucklers but, oddly enough, in Westerns like ''Santa Fe Trail'', (wherein he played a [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent British-accented]] J.E.B. Stuart) ''San Antonio'', ''Silver River'', and ''They Died With Their Boots On'' (in which he played a [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent British-accented]] George Armstrong Custer) as well, besides war films such as ''Dive Bomber'', ''Desperate Journey'', and ''Objective: Burma!'' -- Flynn even did a dancing and singing stint in the Warners' all-star morale-booster, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DydLj5UsQuQ Thank Your Lucky Stars]].'' For a few years, there was no bigger star in Hollywood.
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13	Flynn himself had a bit of a "live fast, die young" attitude that befit stars back then as it does today, and eventually led to him getting fewer and fewer roles as he became less and less reliable and handsome and more and more a drunkard. He was also famous (as well as infamous) for his almost supernatural ability to seduce women, [[MemeticMolester which he did with a reckless disregard to the law]], as evidenced by his statutory rape trial in 1942, which led to the coinage of the expression "In like Flynn" when he beat the rap. Among his other passions were boating, fighting, and drinking.
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15	When told that he could not bring alcohol to the movie set any longer, he started to eat lots and lots of oranges... [[TheAlcoholic that he had previously injected with vodka]]. He died at the age of fifty, after he had finally gotten a few roles such as in Creator/ErnestHemingway's ''The Sun Also Rises'' and ''Too Much, Too Soon'' (where Flynn played his friend Creator/JohnBarrymore) that showed that he could indeed act in serious roles as opposed to merely [[{{Swashbuckler}} swashbuckling]]. His autopsy paid testament to the hard living Flynn did, he suffered from recurrent malaria, chronic back pain, tuberculosis, liver failure (due to his heavy drinking and drug use), a lung tumor (due to his heavy smoking), multiple heart attacks, and multiple venereal diseases. The official cause of Flynn's death was declared to a heart attack, though the doctor's report noted that his other health conditions certainly could have played a role in his demise. He was survived by both his parents.
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17	He was often paired with Creator/OliviaDeHavilland, [[ThoseTwoActors costarring with her in eight films]]. De Havilland claimed to have an unrequited crush on him, [[FlipFlopOfGod though interviews are inconsistent]] on whether [[ObliviousToLove he never noticed]] or reciprocated once only to be turned down because he was still married. Flynn himself admitted to falling in love with her in his autobiography.
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19	Among films set in classic periods of adventure, such as those of the Caribbean pirates of [[TheCavalierYears the 17th century]] or Myth/RobinHood, with high romantic flavor and [[{{Swashbuckler}} swashbuckling]] action played straight, Errol Flynn's films, such as ''Film/CaptainBlood'', ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'', and ''Film/TheSeaHawk'', set the gold standard.
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21	Also the TropeNamer for {{Flynning}}.
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24	!!Films in Which Errol Flynn Appeared Include:
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26	* ''In the Wake of the Bounty'' (1933) as Fletcher Christian
27	* ''Film/TheCaseOfTheCuriousBride'' (1935) as Gregory Moxley
28	* ''Film/CaptainBlood'' (1935) as Peter Blood
29	* ''Film/{{The Charge of the Light Brigade\|1936}}'' (1936) as Major Geoffrey Vickers
30	* ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' (1937) as Miles Hendon
31	* ''Another Dawn'' (1937) as Captain Denny Roark
32	* ''The Perfect Specimen'' (1937) as Gerald Beresford Wicks
33	* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' (1938) as Sir Robin of Locksley, [-AKA-] Myth/RobinHood
34	* ''Film/TheDawnPatrol'' (1938) as Captain Courtney
35	* ''Film/FoursACrowd'' (1938) as Bob Lansford
36	* ''Film/DodgeCity'' (1939) as Wade Hatton
37	* ''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'' (1939) as Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex
38	* ''Film/VirginiaCity'' (1940) as Captain Kerry Bradford
39	* ''Film/TheSeaHawk'' (1940) as Captain Geoffrey Thorpe
40	* ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940) as J.E.B. Stuart
41	* ''Film/DiveBomber'' (1941) as Lieutenant Douglas S. "Doug" Lee, MD
42	* ''Film/FootstepsInTheDark'' (1941) as Francis Warren
43	* ''Film/TheyDiedWithTheirBootsOn'' (1941) as George Armstrong Custer
44	* ''Film/DesperateJourney'' (1942) as Flight Lieutenant Terrence "Terry" Forbes
45	* ''Gentleman Jim'' (1942) as James J. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett
46	* ''[[Film/{{EdgeOfDarkness1943}} Edge of Darkness]]'' (1943) as Gunnar Brogge
47	* ''Film/NorthernPursuit'' (1943) as Corporal Steve Wagner
48	* ''Film/ThankYourLuckyStars'' (1943) as Himself
49	* ''Film/UncertainGlory'' (1944) as Jean Picard
50	* ''Film/ObjectiveBurma'' (1945) as Captain Nelson
51	* ''Film/SanAntonio'' (1945) as Clay Hardin
52	* ''Film/{{Cry Wolf\|1947}}'' (1947) as Mark Caldwell
53	* ''Film/EscapeMeNever'' (1947) as Sebastian Dubrok
54	* ''Film/SilverRiver'' (1948) as "Mike" [=McComb=]
55	* ''Adventures of Don Juan'' (1948) as Don Juan Tenorio
56	* ''That Forsyte Woman'' (1949) as Soames Forsyte
57	* ''Montana'' (1950) as Morgan Lane
58	* ''Film/RockyMountain'' (1950) as Captain Lafe Barstow
59	* ''Literature/{{Kim}}'' (1950) as Mahbub Ali, the Red Beard
60	* ''Adventures of Captain Fabian'' (1951) as Captain Michael Fabian
61	* ''Film/AgainstAllFlags'' (1952) as Brian Hawke
62	* ''The Master of Ballantrae'' (1953) as Jamie Durie
63	* ''The Dark Avenger'' (1955) as Prince Edward
64	* ''King's Rhapsody'' (1955) as Richard, King of Laurentia
65	* ''Istanbul'' (1957) as James Brennan
66	* ''Literature/TheSunAlsoRises'' (1957) as Mike Campbell
67	* ''Film/TooMuchTooSoon'' (1958) as Creator/JohnBarrymore
68	* ''Cuban Rebel Girls'' (1959) as The American Correspondent
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Context Creator / ErrolFlynn