Dear fellow Flynn fans,
see the spoof on Errol in print and own it if you will:
Mel Brooks remembered his high time with our Hollywood hero vividly in an 1997 interview like this:
“I was locked in the Waldorf Towers with Errol Flynn and two red-headed, Cuban sisters. For three days I was trying to get them out of there and he was trying to get me drunk and in there. It was the craziest weekend of my life. I was 20 years old and just starting with The Show Of Shows. He was a tough guy to corrale and get to rehearsals. Max Liebman assigned me to him and said, “Get him into rehearsal! Make him learn his lines! Work with him on the sketch!” Errol Flynn was a raving maniac. All he wanted was booze and to fool around. He did learn the sketch. Actually, I whispered into his ear when he was asleep. I’d say all the lines and unconsciously, I knew it would get through to his head.”
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Gentleman Tim
April 16, 2015 at 3:07 am
What was Sid Caesar thinking? Everyone knows it took a minimum of three women to get Errol Flynn ready for a live tv performance. And Mel Brooks whispering in his ear certainly doesn’t qualify.
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shangheinz
May 6, 2015 at 8:34 am
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Sometimes two female flight attendants would do, TWA Tim. Come to think of it, maybe those two even were the beforementioned redheaded sisters.
zacal
April 17, 2015 at 2:23 am
I believe the Mel Brooks/Errol Flynn/Sid Caesar story was just that; a story. I don’t think there’s any record of Flynn appearing on The Show of Shows. When MFY was released, my father heard a radio interview with a man who said it was actually his story, not Brooks. He told of Flynn taking him to a restaurant (Coconut Grove, perhaps) and pointing to a show girl and telling his handler he wanted him to arrange an introduction. The handler said he couldn’t because the woman in question was his wife, to which the slightly chastened Flynn replied, “Now I want you to find me a gun so I can shoot myself.”
David DeWitt
April 18, 2015 at 1:15 pm
Great story, Zacal! My friend, Prof. Lincoln Hurst, was close friend’s with Beverly Aadland and her husband, Ron. He sent me a copy of a videotape that he said was from Beverly’s private collection, and it was Errol’s appearance on The Martha Raye Show. It featured a Pirate Skit, among others. Flynn was great on the show, hilarious, and worked hard to make it a good show. He was visibly exhausted by the Pirate sequence but the audience loved it. If MFY was based on any real show with Flynn my feeling is that it had to The Martha Raye Show.
shangheinz
April 19, 2015 at 8:45 pm
Dear Dave, could you please film the video with your smart phone and upload it via YouTube here?
David DeWitt
April 21, 2015 at 3:21 am
A great idea, but my video tapes are in storage three thousand miles from where I live now. I’ll ask Rory if she has a copy of it. I don’t know many people who have VCR’s come to think of it. My daughter had a videotape to disk recorder back in the day, I think it is in storage, too. Last time I used it, it was still working. Maybe when she goes to visit her mother next time I can have her make a DVDr copy of that show. I have some good tapes. What’s my Line? The Big Surprise, EF Theatre, Steve Allen Show, Martha Raye Show, Bev on Grouch Marx, some others. I’ve got to get back to Washington and go through my storage unit …
shangheinz
May 6, 2015 at 8:18 am
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Mr. DeWitt goes to Washington. Yes he can! Most of Errol`s TV appearances are to be found on the net. But the pirate skit would be an unbelievable addition to the blog. Thanks in advance!
Gentleman Tim
April 21, 2015 at 3:38 am
If it will help your research, towerheinz, I’ll search for those redheaded Cuban sisters, or at least their granddaughters.
… all I’ve got so far on Errol and redheads is that he once jilted a princess for one. Lucy keeps coming up when I google up Cuban redheads 1950s! I hope it wasn’t Lucy and her sister!! (Desi probably sent them over to the Waldorf, whole he was camping out at the Copa!)
news.google.com…
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