The Errol Flynn Blog

Remembering Sean Flynn, son of Errol on what would have been his 71st birthday.–A. R.

— ILIKEFLYNN

Maybe a little off-topic but we get to Flynn in the end! An amusing little tale I saw on another forum. The topic was arrogant film stars and Steve McQueen was mentioned and his infamous meeting with Oliver Reed.

If its any consolation, Ollie Reed once threw up on him in a nightclub

From the autobiography of George MacDonald Faser:

“I gathered then that there was no love lost between him and McQueen, and this was confirmed by McQueen when I worked with him some months later on Taipan. There was a part which I thought Oliver would be right for, but Steve frowned and wrinkled his nose. “Ferdinand the Bull,” he said. “You know why they call him that? Because he’s always being put on his ass.” Pause. “Matter of fact, I almost put him on his ass once myself.”

“The idea of McQueen, who was fairly slight in build and of no more than middle height, putting that hulking mass of muscle* on any part of its anatomy, was not worthy of comment, so I didn’t. I have since been told that the reason for their mutual dislike was that Oliver had thrown up over Steve during a meeting in London, which might account for it, but I suspect that even if Oliver’s internal economy had been under control they would still have been poles apart, the quiet, plain-spoken, pretty egotistical American, and the ebullient, beautifully accented Englishman. Thinking of them together, I have no difficulty understanding the events of 1776.”

* Oliver certainly had an impressive physique, but I was told that when he managed to get hold of the shirt worn by Errol Flynn in the 1937 version of The Prince and the Pauper, he found to his astonishment that it was too big for him.

— themainflynnman

David’s outcry made me think! Much as morbid curiosity may go, I too would rather not see Errol that way! So if I may be indulged, I would like to share two of my favorite photos.
In the studio publicity shot showing the more mature Errol, he kind of reminds me of my father. (At least how I remember him.) (In the words of the American musical group from “Motown Records”, the Temptations, “Papa was a rolling stone!” Sort of like Errol was to Sean.) ( Those who are familiar with the Temptations’ recording, might agree.)
Any way I hope you enjoy and let’s remember, “They died with their boots on!”–A. R.

— ILIKEFLYNN

My friends – I was checking out the link posted by someone to the blog in response to an article posted by John Teitlov regarding Flynn’s autopsy records.  I check links to make sure they are not spam if the system has not flagged it. This comment got through which usually means the commenter has had other comments approved but since John’s articles are number one in popularity for spammers I followed the link –

We have discussed this on the blog and have agreed to keep any photo of Errol dead off these pages; as I clicked on this commentator’s link a photo began to appear and there was Errol laying dead on a gurney! I quickly stopped the download but the damage is done as far as I am concerned. I have carefully avoided photos like this for DECADES not wanting to see Flynn in this state, ever in my life… I would think that someone contemplating such a link would have thought about the feelings of the readers of this blog before posting something like this. John gave his email address to be used to contact him in his post but the commenter decided to leave the link for ANYBODY to view which was rather thoughtless!

I have deleted the comment, of course.

I will put a notice on the FAQ’s page about not posting such photos if it will help!

I hope none of you saw this link before I did – I know that viewing a photo like this is a personal choice and many researchers feel it is just part of their research and they can handle it on that basis. For me, it is not something I ever wanted to see preferring to keep his image alive in my mind and so I am very disappointed by this.

— David DeWitt

I  have been in touch with our wonderful blog member Tina Nyary who tells me she is the caregiver for a terminally ill family member and all of her time is now taken up with this – and that she is rarely on the computer. She says it is  all right for me to mention this on the blog so that nobody thinks she has abandoned us – she will return when it is appropriate to do so. My heart goes out to her and her family!

— David DeWitt

He looks… as if someone shaved him??? Does anybody know?

— Inga