Dear fellow Flynn fans,
this is a post not completely unrelated to Errol. During a short trip to Stockholm, I had the great pleasure to stay on the former yacht of Barbara Hutton, the millionairess of old Woolworth wealth.
In her biography “Poor little rich girl”, author C. David Heymann describes how she nearly became the wife of Errol`s best buddy Freddie McEvoy. Despite being her constant companion during winter vacations, he passed the Barb, ah buck, when it came to tying the knot. After two marriages with very wealthy women, Suicide Freddie went on to marry a moneyless model. Mrs. Hutton meanwhile took interest in Freddie`s pal, poor prince Igor Nikolaiewitsch Troubetzkoy of Russia. Barbara compensated Freddie with a $ 100.000 check and they remained friends till his untimely death.
When Troubetzkoy finally fell from grace, it was our man Flynn, who sat down with princey and his prefered lawyer Melvin Belli to come up with a lucrative divorce strategy. Mulling over it, they spent endless nights together at a nightclub in Paris. The plot to make I.T. a millionaire though backfired, when he was offered only $ 900.000, falling short of a mill, he then vetoed, so he got nill. In the end he managed to get a monthly pension out of Barbara, when they settled things in private, renouncing the services of Errol`s advocate. Barbara subsequently fell prey to the last playboy, Porfirio Rubirosa, her fifth but not the least husband, whom she divorced after barely more than a month for a cool 3 millions and incentives.
But back to the boat. Originally built for NY magnate Mr. Billings in 1924, the then named “Vanadis” was at the time the largest diesel driven yacht in the world. She was given to Barabara Hutton by her father for her 18th birthdy. She kept her only for a year and sold her for $1 to the English Navy during WWII.
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Gentleman Tim
November 16, 2014 at 7:08 pm
Congratulations on your trip to Sweden, stockheinz! And thanks for the great photos and info!!
Babs certainly went for big ships, no bout adoubt it. Likely never laid claim on the Zaca, though, especially after Errol and Friends said her butler did it up at Mulholland. Imagine Errol drinking with Fleming up at his birthday party. No way! Good thing Errol had such a distinguished list of witnesses – Rooney, Chaplin, Power, Korda, Oberon, Shore … and I believe maybe Warner, too!!!!! … No wonder it became Cash & Cary, rather than Barb & Baron.
bit.ly/1sVbXTv…
Errol eventually got her back – driving Tiger Lil to Palm Beach, back-to-back with Mar-a-Lago!
[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/20140515_142452.jpg[/img]
p.s. wonder what ever became of Gosta & Chester!?
The Real Person!
November 21, 2014 at 8:59 pm
Skol GT! I detect a change of heart within the three scoundreleers, when McEvoy troubardoured his friend Troupetzkoy to Barbara. At a time Cabot, Errol and Freddie, each opted for a Million Dollar wife, courting Gloria Vanderbilt, Doris Duke and Beatrice Cartwright respectively. They settled for actresses and models later on.[img]http://www.theerrolflynnblog.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/errbruce.jpg[/img]