Errol Flynn

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Charles Higham Allegations

In 1980, author Charles Higham published a controversial biography, Errol Flynn: The Untold Story, in which he alleged that Flynn was a fascist sympathiser who spied for the Nazis before and during World War II, and also that he was bisexual.[55][56] Higham did confess to the New York Times, however, that he had no documents proving Flynn was a Nazi agent.[57] Flynn's ex-wife Nora Eddington Black denounced the allegations and members of Flynn’s family subsequently attempted to sue Higham and his publisher Doubleday for libel, but since the actor had died in 1959 the suit was dismissed.[58][59]

Other biographers accused Higham of altering FBI documents to sustain his charges against Flynn.[60] That Flynn was bisexual was also claimed by David Bret in Errol Flynn: Satan's Angel (2000), although Bret denounced the Nazi claims.

Flynn's former housemate David Niven criticised Charles Higham for his claims in 1980; Higham responded that Niven was ignorant of his friend's activities.[61]

In a 1982 interview with Penthouse Magazine, Ronald DeWolf, previously known as L. Ron Hubbard Jr, claimed that his father had a strong friendship with Flynn, who was considered a family friend to the point of being looked upon as an adoptive father to DeWolf. He claimed Flynn and his father were alike, and engaged in various illegal activities together, including indulging in sexual acts with young underage girls and also drug smuggling. Flynn, however never became a practitioner of Hubbard's religious group, Scientology.[62]

In 2000, Higham wrote an article that also claimed that Flynn was previously accused of sympathising with Adolf Hitler based on his association with Dr. Hermann Erben, an Austrian who served in the German military intelligence. Unreleased MI5 files held by the British Home Office were claimed in 2000 to demonstrate Flynn worked for the Allies during the war.[63] Flynn offered to spy on Ireland for America during the war but was turned down because of FDR's fear that he sympathised with the Nazis.[64]

Subsequent biographies – notably Tony Thomas' Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was (Citadel, 1990) and Buster Wiles' My Days With Errol Flynn: The Autobiography of a Stuntman (Roundtable, 1988) – have rejected Higham's claims as pure fabrication. Flynn's political leanings, say these biographies, appear to have been leftist: he was a supporter of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War and of the Cuban Revolution, even narrating a documentary titled Cuban Story shortly before his death. Flynn also wrote, financed and starred in the film Cuban Rebel Girls in which his character helps Castro's revolution. Flynn defended his visit to Cuba in an appearance on a Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC) television show Front Page Challenge early in 1959. According to his autobiography, he considered Fidel Castro a close personal friend and drinking partner.[citation needed]

In June 2013, it was discovered that Errol Flynn had an unpaid debt to the Northampton menswear shop, Montague Jeffery.[65]

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Posthumous cultural references

    The 1965 Marvel Comics character Fandral, a companion of the Norse God Thor and a member of the Warriors Three, was based on the likeness of Flynn by co-creator Stan Lee.[66] Actor Joshua Dallas, who played the character in Thor, based his portrayal on Flynn.[67]
    According to artist Howard Chaykin, his character Ironwolf was based on Errol Flynn.
    In 1976, British rock quartet 10cc recorded a song, "Don't Hang Up," written by band members Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, for their How Dare You album. The song references Flynn in the lyric line, "I know I never had the style or the dash of Errol Flynn/but I love you."
    Errol Flynn's life was the subject of the opera Flynn (1977–78) by British composer Judith Bingham. The score is titled: Music-theatre on the life and times of Errol Flynn, in three scenes, three solos, four duets, a mad song and an interlude.[68]
    "Errol" was the title of a 1981 hit pop song by the band Australian Crawl. It appeared on their album Sirocco, which was itself named after Flynn's yacht.[citation needed]
    Roman Polanski's 1986 film, Pirates was intended to pay homage to the beloved Errol Flynn swashbucklers of his childhood.[69]
    In 1989 UK rock band "The Dogs D'amour" release an album titled "Errol Flynn" that charted at #26 on the UK charts.
    In 2005, a small waterfront reserve in Sandy Bay, a suburb of Flynn's hometown of Hobart, was renamed from Short Beach to the "Errol Flynn Reserve".[70]
    The Pirate's Daughter, a 2008 novel by Margaret Cezair-Thompson, is a fictionalised account of Flynn's later life.[71]
    In June 2009 the Errol Flynn Society of Tasmania Inc. organised the Errol Flynn Centenary Celebration, a 10-day series of events designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth[72] On the actual centenary, 20 June 2009, his daughter Rory Flynn unveiled a star with his name on the footpath outside Hobart's heritage State Cinema.[73]
    In 2009, the Port Antonio mega-yacht marina in the northeastern coast of Jamaica underwent a name change to the Errol Flynn Marina.[74][75]
    The 2010 novel Errol, Fidel and the Cuban Rebel Girls by Boyd Anderson is a fictionalised account of the last year of Flynn's life in Cuba.[76]
    Jay Electronica song "2-Step" Lyrics: "Chillin' in the circle, Errol Flynnin' it up" [77]
    In the 1991 film The Rocketeer, the characterization of Neville Sinclair was inspired by Flynn, or rather by the image of Flynn that had been popularized by Charles Higham's unauthorized and fabricated biography of the actor,[78] in which he asserted that Flynn was, among other things, a Nazi spy. The film's Neville Sinclair is, like Higham's Flynn, a movie star known for his work in swashbuckler roles, and who is secretly a Nazi spy. Because Higham's biography of Flynn was not refuted until the late 1980s, the image of Flynn as a closet Nazi remained current all through the arduous process of writing and re-writing the script.[79]
    "The trouble was started by a young Errol Flynn" is a line in the song Blood on the Rooftops from the 1976 Genesis album, Wind and Wuthering.
    "Errol Flynn" is the name of a song by Australian indie band Jinja Safari.
    The Character of bow in in the cartoon She Ra was rumored to be based on Flynn's looks.
    In Disney's 2010 film Tangled, one of the main characters uses the pseudonym Flynn Rider, an obvious allusion to the actor's swashbuckling, ladies-man roles.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Bibliography

    Beam Ends (1937)
    Showdown (1946)
    Flynn, Errol. My Wicked, Wicked Ways: the Autobiography of Errol Flynn. Intro. by Jeffrey Meyers. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2003. Rpt. of My Wicked, Wicked Ways. New York: G.P. Putnam's sons, 1959. ISBN 0-8154-1250-9.
    Flynn, Errol "The Quest for an Oscar." by James Turiello, BearManor Media, Duncan, OK. 2012. ISBN 978-1-59393-695-2.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Select radio performances

Flynn appeared in numerous radio performances:[80]
Year    Title    Venue    Dates performed
1937    Captain Blood    Lux Radio Theatre    22 February[81]
1937    British Agent    Lux Radio Theatre    7 June[82]
1937    These Three    Lux Radio Theatre    6 December[83]
1938    Green Light    Lux Radio Theatre    31 January
1939    The Perfect Specimen    Lux Radio Theatre    2 January[84]
1939    Lives of a Bengal Lancer    Lux Radio Theatre    10 April[85]
1940    Trade Winds    Lux Radio Theatre    4 March[86]
1941    Virginia City    Lux Radio Theatre    26 May[87]
1941    They Died With Their Boots On    Cavalcade of America    17 November[88]
1944    Barbara Stanwyck    Command Performance    30 July[89]
1946    Gentleman Jim    Theatre of Romance    5 February
1952    The Modern Adventures of Casanova       22 May

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Theatre performances

Flynn appeared on stage in a number of performances, particularly early in his career:[90]

    The Thirteenth Chair – Dec 1933 – Northampton Rep
    Jack and the Beanstalk – Dec 1933 – Northampton Rep
    Sweet Lavendar – January 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Bulldog Drummond – January 1934 –Northampton Rep
    A Doll's House – January 1934 - Northampton Rep
    On the Spot – January 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Pygmalion – January–February 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Crime at Blossoms – February 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Yellow Sands – February 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Grain of Mustard Seed – February 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Seven Keys to Baldpate – March 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Othello – March 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Green Bay Tree – March 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Fake – March 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Farmer's Wife – March–April 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Wind and the Rain – April 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Sheppey – April 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Soul of Nicholas Snyders – April 1934 – Northampton Rep
    The Devil's Disciple – May 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Conflict – May 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Paddy the Next Best Thing – May 1934 – Northampton Rep
    9:45 – May–June 1934 – Northampton Rep
    Malvern festival – July–August 1934 – appeared in A Man's House, History of Dr Faustus, Marvelous History of Saint Bernard, The Moon in Yellow River, Mutiny
    A Man's House – August – September1934 – Glasgow, St Martin's Lane
    Master of Thornfield – February 1958 – adaptation of Jane Eyre

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Films
1933–1940
Year    Title    Role    Director    Co-stars    Notes
1933    In the Wake of the Bounty    Fletcher Christian    Charles Chauvel    Mayne Lynton    Made in Australia
Never released theatrically in the United States
I Adore You    Bit    George King    Margot Grahame    Flynn had an unbilled bit part in this now lost film
1935    Murder at Monte Carlo    Dyter    Ralph Ince    Eve Gray    Filmed in England at Warner Bros. Teddington Studios
Never released in the United States
Now believed to be a lost film
The Case of the Curious Bride    Gregory Moxley    Michael Curtiz    Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Allen Jenkins    Flynn in a small, non-speaking role
Don't Bet on Blondes    David Van Dusen    Robert Florey    Warren William, Guy Kibbee    Flynn in a supporting role
Captain Blood    Peter Blood    Michael Curtiz    Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, Guy Kibbee, Henry Stephenson    Based on the novel by Rafael Sabatini
Previously filmed in 1923 with J. Warren Kerrigan in the Flynn role
1936    The Charge of the Light Brigade    Capt. (later Major) Geoffrey Vickers    Michael Curtiz    Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, Donald Crisp, David Niven    Filmed on location in Lone Pine, California
1937    The Green Light    Dr. Newell Page    Frank Borzage    Anita Louise, Margaret Lindsay, Cedric Hardwicke    
The Prince and the Pauper    Miles Hendon    William Keighley    Claude Rains, Henry Stephenson, Barton MacLane, Alan Hale    Based on the novel by Mark Twain
Another Dawn    Captain Denny Roark    William Dieterle    Kay Francis, Ian Hunter    Flynn is second billed to Francis
The Perfect Specimen    Gerald Beresford Wicks    Michael Curtiz    Joan Blondell, Edward Everett Horton    
1938    The Adventures of Robin Hood    Sir Robin of Locksley (Robin Hood)    Michael Curtiz
William Keighley    Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, Claude Rains, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Alan Hale    Technicolor
Four's a Crowd    Robert Kensington Lansford    Michael Curtiz    Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles    
The Sisters    Frank Medlin    Anatole Litvak    Bette Davis, Anita Louise, Ian Hunter, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale    
The Dawn Patrol    Captain Courtney    Edmund Goulding    Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp    Previously filmed in 1930 with Richard Barthelmess in the Flynn role
1939    Dodge City    Wade Hatton    Michael Curtiz    Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale    Technicolor
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex    Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex)    Michael Curtiz    Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp, Alan Hale, Vincent Price    Technicolor
1940    Virginia City    Kerry Bradford    Michael Curtiz    Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale    Released in sepia tone
The Sea Hawk    Capt Geoffrey Thorpe    Michael Curtiz    Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Henry Daniell    Released with sepiatone sequence
Santa Fe Trail    Jeb Stuart    Michael Curtiz    Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale, Van Heflin    Released in sepiatone
1941–1950
Year    Title    Role    Director    Co-stars    Notes
1941    Footsteps in the Dark    Francis Warren    Lloyd Bacon    Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy, Alan Hale, Allen Jenkins    
Dive Bomber    Lieutenant Douglas Lee    Michael Curtiz    Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Alexis Smith    Technicolor
Flynn's last film with Curtiz
They Died with Their Boots On    George Armstrong Custer    Raoul Walsh    Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy    Flynn's first film with Walsh
1942    Desperate Journey    Flight Lieutenant Terrence Forbes    Raoul Walsh    Ronald Reagan, Nancy Coleman, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale    
Gentleman Jim    James J. Corbett    Raoul Walsh    Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Ward Bond    
1943    Edge of Darkness    Gunnar Brogge    Lewis Milestone    Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston, Helmut Dantine, Judith Anderson, Ruth Gordon    
Thank Your Lucky Stars    Himself    David Butler    Eddie Cantor, Dennis Morgan, Joan Leslie    
Northern Pursuit    Steve Wagner    Raoul Walsh    Julie Bishop, Helmut Dantine    
1944    Uncertain Glory    Jean Picard    Raoul Walsh    Paul Lukas, Jean Sullivan    
1945    Objective, Burma!    Captain Nelson    Raoul Walsh    James Brown, William Prince, George Tobias, Henry Hull    
San Antonio    Clay Hardin    David Butler    Alexis Smith, S. Z. Sakall, Paul Kelly, Tom Tyler    Technicolor
1946    Never Say Goodbye    Phil Gayley    James V. Kern    Eleanor Parker, S. Z. Sakall, Forrest Tucker    
1947    Always Together    Himself    Frederick de Cordova    Robert Hutton, Joyce Reynold    Flynn did a cameo as himself in this picture
Cry Wolf    Mark Caldwell    Peter Godfrey    Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Basehart    Flynn's only venture into film noir
Escape Me Never    Sebastian Dubrok    Peter Godfrey    Ida Lupino, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young    Previously filmed in 1935 with Hugh Sinclair in Flynn's role
1948    Silver River    Mike McComb    Raoul Walsh    Ann Sheridan, Thomas Mitchell, Bruce Bennett    Flynn's last film with Walsh
Adventures of Don Juan    Don Juan de Marana    Vincent Sherman    Viveca Lindfors, Robert Douglas, Alan Hale, Ann Rutherford    Technicolor
1949    It's a Great Feeling    Jeffrey Bushdinkle    David Butler    Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson    Technicolor
That Forsyte Woman    Soames Forsyte    Compton Bennett    Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Robert Young, Janet Leigh    Technicolor
1950    Montana    Morgan Lane    Ray Enright    Alexis Smith, S. Z. Sakall    Technicolor
Rocky Mountain    Lafe Barstow    William Keighley    Patrice Wymore, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams    Flynn's last western
Kim    Mahbub Ali, the Red Beard    Victor Seville    Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas, Robert Douglas    Technicolor
Filmed on location in India and in Lone Pine, California
1951–1959
Year    Title    Role    Director    Co-stars    Notes
1951    Hello God    The Man on Anzio Beach    William Marshall       Never released in the United States
Adventures of Captain Fabian    Captain Michael Fabian    William Marshall    Micheline Presle, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead    
1952    Mara Maru    Gregory Mason    Gordon Douglas    Ruth Roman, Raymond Burr, Paul Picerni    
Against All Flags    Brian Hawke    George Sherman    Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn    Technicolor
Remade as The King's Pirate (1967) with Doug McClure in Flynn's role.
1953    The Master of Ballantrae    Jamie Durrisdeer    William Keighley    Beatrice Campbell, Roger Livesey, Anthony Steel, Yvonne Furneaux, Gillian Lynne    Technicolor
Filmed in England and in Italy (Palermo)
Flynn's last film under his Warner Bros. contract
1954    Il Maestro di Don Giovanni    Renzo    Milton Krims    Gina Lollobrigida    Pathécolor
Filmed in Italy
Released in the United States under the title Crossed Swords
The Story of William Tell    William Tell    Jack Cardiff       CinemaScope
Filmed in Italy
Never completed
1955    Lilacs in the Spring    John Beaumont    Herbert Wilcox    Anna Neagle, Peter Graves    Eastmancolor
Filmed in England
Released in the United States as Let's Make Up
The Dark Avenger    Prince Edward    Henry Levin    Joanne Dru, Peter Finch    CinemaScope
Eastman Color
Filmed in England
Released in the United States as The Warriors
King's Rhapsody    King Richard    Herbert Wilcox    Anna Neagle, Patrice Wymore    CinemaScope
Eastman Color
Filmed in England
1957    Istanbul    James Brennan    Joseph Pevney    Cornell Borchers, Nat King Cole, Werner Klemperer    CinemaScope
Technicolor
Previously filmed as Singapore (1947) with Fred MacMurray in Flynn's role.
The Big Boodle    Ned Sherwood    Richard Wilson    Rossana Rory, Pedro Armendáriz    Filmed on location in Cuba
The Sun Also Rises    Mike Campbell    Henry King    Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, Eddie Albert    CinemaScope
Deluxe color
Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway
1958    Too Much, Too Soon    John Barrymore    Art Napoleon    Dorothy Malone, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.    
The Roots of Heaven    Major Forsythe    John Huston    Juliette Greco, Trevor Howard, Eddie Albert, Orson Welles    CinemaScope
Deluxe color
Filmed on location in French Equatorial Africa
1959    Cuban Rebel Girls    Himself    Barry Mahon    Beverly Aadland    Filmed in Cuba.
   Cuban Story    Himself    Victor Pahlen       Filmed in Cuba
After an initial premiere in Moscow this film was out of circulation until 2001
Television
Year    Title    Role    Director    Notes
1956    Screen Directors' Playhouse: The Sword of Villon    François Villon    George Waggner    First TV appearance
1956    The Errol Flynn Theatre    Presenter 26 episodes    Various[1]    Filmed in England
Short films
Year    Title    Role    Director    Notes
1935    A Dream Comes True    Himself    George Bilson    A behind-the-scenes look at the movie industry.
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle    Himself    Alexander Van Horn    Technicolor
1938    Breakdowns of 1938    Himself       Outtakes from several movies, including The Adventures of Robin Hood
For Auld Lang Syne    Himself       A short showing celebrities aiding the Will Rogers Memorial Fund
1943    Show Business at War    Himself    Louis De Rochemont    
1952    Cruise of the Zaca    Himself / Narrator    Errol Flynn    Technicolor
Deep Sea Fishing    Himself / Narrator    Errol Flynn    Technicolor

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Unmade Films

The following projects were announced for Errol Flynn but were not made

    The White Rajah (late 1930s) - based on the life of Sir James Brooke based on Flynn's own story[2]
    The Life of Simon Bolivar (1940)[3]
    adaptation of Moby Dick (1941)[4]
    The Sea Beast (1941)[5]
    Ghosts Don't Leave Footprints (1941) - sequel to Footsteps in the Dark[5]
    To the Last Man (early 1940s) - comedy with Alexis Smith[6]
    The Frontiersman (circa 1945)[7] - an original western by Alan Le May about the beginning of a riverboat operation in the Mississippi to be produced by Flynn and Mark Hellinger with Raoul Walsh directing[8]
    Stallion Road (1945), based on a novel, with Ida Lupino[9]
    untitled adventure film "in the Frank Buck tradition shot off the coast of Mexico produced by Flynn[10]
    General Crack (circa 1947)[11]
    Half Way House' (circa 1947) - an "alpine thriller" by Frances Potter and Spencer Rice[12]
    The Turquoise (circa 1948) with Claude Rains and Dorothy Malone based on novel by Anya Seton[13]
    The Candy Kid (1948) with producer Bill Jacobs[14]
    The Bengal Tiger (1952)[15]
    Abdulla the King (1953) in the title role with Dawn Addams directed by Gregory Ratoff[16]
    Dragonfly (1953) - proposed adventure film from producer John Champion set in the Far East with Flynn as an air force officer whose command is threatened with desertion.[17]
    Lord Vanity (late 1950s)- with Robert Wagner
    Ten Days to Talara (1956) with the same director of The Big Boodle about an adventurer whose son is kidnapped[18]
    untitled Debbie Reynolds project as her teetotal father (circa 1958)[19]

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Films Made with Other Actors

Flynn was announced for the following movies which were made with other actors:

    Captain Horatio Hornblower[20]
    The Constant Nymph with Olivia de Havilland[20]
    Affectionately Yours (1941)[21]
    In This Our Life[5]
    Mrs Skeffington[5]
    Dallas (1950)[22]
    King Solomon's Mines (1950) - Stewart Granger replaced him[23]

Box office rankings

At the height of his career, exhibitors voted Flynn among the leading stars in Britain, the USA and Australia in various polls:

    1937 – 11th (Australia)[24]
    1938 – 21st (US),[25] 14th (Australia)[26]
    1939 – 8th (US),[27] 7th (Britain)[28]
    1940 – 14th (US), 7th (Britain)[29]
    1941 – 14th (US)[30]
    1942 – 17th (US),[31] 15th (internationally)[32]
    1943 – 17th (US)[33]
    1946 – 25th (US),[34] 10th biggest Western star (Britain)[35]

[Jennifer Murdoch]

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Sean Flynn (photojournalist)



Sean Flynn (left) and Dana Stone (right) , riding motorcycles into Communist-held territory in Cambodia on April 6, 1970
Born    Sean Leslie Flynn
May 31, 1941
Los Angeles, California
Disappeared    April 6, 1970 (aged 28)
Cambodia
Status    Declared dead in absentia, 1984
Died    c. June 1971 (presumed)
Parents    Errol Flynn (1909-1959)
Lili Damita (1904-1994)

Sean Leslie Flynn (born May 31, 1941; disappeared April 6, 1970, age 28; declared legally dead in 1984[1]) was an American actor and freelance photojournalist best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War.[2]

Flynn was the only child of the marriage of Errol Flynn and Lili Damita. After studying briefly at Duke University, he became a movie actor like his parents. When he retired from acting, Flynn became a freelance photojournalist under contract to Time. In a search for exceptional images, he attached himself to Special Forces units and even irregulars operating in remote areas.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Flynn first appeared in front of the cameras at the age of 15, when he appeared in an episode of his father's television show,The Errol Flynn Theatre. The episode, "Strange Auction," was broadcast in the U.K. in 1956 and in the U.S.A. in 1957. In 1960, at the suggestion of his friend, actor George Hamilton, Flynn filmed a scene in Hamilton's picture Where The Boys Are. Most of his scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, but he can still be seen in a scene walking by wearing a blue "Xavier University" sweatshirt. [3] In 1961, at the age of 20 (and after his father's 1959 death), Flynn accepted a contract to appear in the 1962 Il Figlio del Capitano Blood, a sequel to his father's hit film Captain Blood. The film was released in the U.S. in 1964 as The Son of Captain Blood. He made a few more films in Europe, including Il Segno di Zorro (1963; released in 1964 as Duel at the Rio Grande), Verspätung in Marienborn with José Ferrer (1963; released in 1964 as Stop Train 349), Agent Special a Venise "Voir Venise et...Crever" (1964; sold to U.S. television syndication as Mission to Venice), and Sandok, Il Maciste della Jungla (1964; released in 1966 as Temple of the White Elephant).

Flynn became bored with acting and went to Africa in late 1964 to try his hand at being a guide for safaris and big game-hunting. He also tried his hand at being a game warden in Kenya. In the latter part of 1965, he needed money and made two Spaghetti Westerns in Spain and Italy that were released in 1966: Sette Magnifiche Pistole (Seven Guns for Timothy) and Dos Pistolas Gemelas co-starring the Spanish twin performers, Pili & Mili. In the summer of 1966, in need of money again, Flynn went to Singapore to star in his eighth and final film, the French-Italian action film Cinq Gars Pour Singapour (1967; released in 1968 as Five Ashore in Singapore). After its completion, he gave up acting for good.

Flynn also tried his hand as a singer, recording two songs for a company known as Hi-Fidelity R.V. Records in 1961: "Stay in My Heart" b/w "Secret Love". The songs were released regionally as a 45rpm single (Arvee 5043). The single is now considered a rare collector's item.[4]

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Photojournalism career

Flynn arrived in South Vietnam in January 1966, as a freelance photojournalist; first for the French magazine Paris-Match, then for Time-Life and finally for United Press International. His photos were soon published around the world. He soon made a name for himself as one of that group of high-risk photojournalists (which includes Dana Stone, Tim Page, Henri Huet, John Steinbeck IV, Perry Deane Young, Nik Wheeler, Chas Gerretsen, and others) who would do anything to get the best pictures, even go into combat.

In March 1966, Flynn was wounded in the knee while in the field. In mid-1966, he left Vietnam long enough to star in his last movie. He returned to Vietnam and made a parachute jump with the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in December 1966. In 1967, he went to Israel to cover the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. He returned to Vietnam in 1968, after the Tet offensive, with plans to make a documentary about the war. In early 1970, he went to Cambodia, when news of North Vietnamese advances into that country broke.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Disappearance

On April 6, 1970, while traveling by motorcycle in Cambodia, Flynn and Dana Stone (on assignment for Time magazine and CBS News respectively) were captured by communist guerrillas[5] at a roadblock on Highway One. They were never heard from again and their remains have never been found. Although it is known that they were captured by Vietnamese Communist forces, it has been suggested that they died in the hands of "hostile" forces.[6] Citing various government sources, the current consensus is that he (or they) were held captive for over a year before they were killed by Khmer Rouge in June 1971.[7][8]

Flynn's mother, Lili Damita, spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, with no success.[9] In 1984 she had him declared legally dead.

The story of Sean Flynn was immortalized by The Clash in the song "Sean Flynn" from the album Combat Rock. He has a prominent role in Michael Herr's book about his experiences as a war correspondent, Dispatches. He was portrayed by Kevin Dillon in the 1992 Australian mini-series Frankie's House, based on a book by Flynn's friend and colleague, photojournalist Tim Page.

In June 2008, Mythic Films[10] optioned the rights to the Perry Deane Young memoir, Two of the Missing. Young is working on a screenplay with director Ralph Hemecker.[11]

In March 2010, a British team searching for Flynn's body thought they had found it, when they uncovered the remains of a Western hostage allegedly executed by the Khmer Rouge.[12] Tests results on the human remains found at the grave site in eastern Kampong Cham province, Cambodia were released on June 30, 2010 and they were found not to be the remains of Sean Flynn. Lt. Col. Wayne Perry of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) said there was no match between DNA from the recovered remains and DNA samples they had on file from the Flynn family.[13]

In 2011, a film inspired by his exploits as a photojournalist entitled, The Road to Freedom, was shot on location in Cambodia.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Lili Damita

Born    Liliane Marie Madeleine Carré
July 10, 1904
Blaye, Gironde, Aquitaine, France
Died    March 21, 1994 (aged 89)
Palm Beach, Florida, USA
Other names    Lily Damita, Lily Deslys
Years active    1922–1937
Spouse(s)    Errol Flynn (1935–1942)
Allen Loomis (1962–1983)
Children    Sean Flynn (May 31, 1941; disappeared April 6, 1970)

Lili Damita (July 10, 1904 – March 21, 1994) was a French actress who appeared in 33 movies between 1922 and 1937.

[Jennifer Murdoch]

Early life and education

Born Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré in Blaye, France, she was educated in convents and ballet schools in several European countries, including France, Spain and Portugal. At 14, she was enrolled as a dancer at the Opera de Paris.

By the age of 16, she was performing in popular music halls, eventually appearing in the Revue at the Casino de Paris.[1] She also worked as a photographic model. Offered a role in film as a prize for winning a magazine beauty competition in 1921, she appeared in several silent films before being offered her first leading role in Das Spielzeug von Paris (1925) by Hungarian-born director Michael Curtiz. She was an instant success, and Curtiz directed her in two more films: Fiaker Nr 13 (1926) and Der Goldene Schmetterling (1926). Damita continued appearing in German productions directed by Robert Wiene (Die Grosse Abenteuerin; 1927), G.W. Pabst (Man Spielt nicht mit der Liebe; 1926), and British director Graham Cutts (The Queen Was in the Parlour; 1927).