Greetings –
It has been interesting to read the accounts of EF's passing in the archives of the LA Times these past few days. Today's edition has a reproduction of the photo of EF's remains arriving in LA by train, accompanied by Buster Wiles. In one of the many articles, it quotes Patrice Wymore listing the names of the honorary pallbearers to be present during the funeral service.
Most of those listed are easily identified and their association with EF is known: Michael Curtiz … Victor Fleming … Robert Ford … Gene Fowler … Jerry Giesler … Justin Golenbock … Paul Henreid … John Huston … Dennis Morgan … Jack Oakie … Pat O'Brien … Mike Romanoff … Mickey Rooney … Red Skelton … Raoul Walsh … Guinn Williams … Buster Wiles … Dick Hyland [LA Times columnist].
A handful of names were unrecognizable to me and I was wondering if anyone knew of their relationship with EF. One would assume that these folks were connected to him in a significant way, given the prominence of the names above. The names listed were: George Boyar … Paul Buttles … Jim McKinnon … John Perona … Don Petty … Stephen Raphael.
My wife believes that Mr Perona was a well-known restauranteur of the day. Robert Ford is — I presume — the attorney who assisted in representing Flynn during the statuatory rape trial. However, Lincoln Hurst once told me that EF ended up owing Ford a substantial amount of money [so the tale goes] and that Ford actually brought suit against EF for payment. Perhaps they had reconciled prior to EF's passing?
Many thanks in advance of any and all efforts.
Best wishes – Rick
— Rick
Anonymous
October 21, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Ahoy Rick-
You ask about some of the lesser known names:
George Boyar … Paul Buttles … Jim McKinnon … John Perona … Don Petty … Stephen Raphael
Boyar?
Buttles was a one-legged diver that Flynn dived with in the Balearacs.
McKinnon?
Perona was the owner of El Morroco, and once bailed Flynn out of jail.
Petty?
Raphael was one of the renters of the Colleen Moore home (along with Cabot and McEvoy) where the Hansen rape allegedly took place … in other words, an old roisterer friend.
As to Ford, on 4/15/57 he formally sued Flynn for $44,000 for the legal fees owed him from 4/1/48 – 12/1/56. In a New York paper (New York Times), anyway, there is no further mention of this suit. Again from the NYT of 3/16/63, it states that the final (?) legal settlement of Flynn's estate was determined as to who were heirs or not. There was no mention of any past or pending legal judgments as regards Ford.
Best- Karl
Anonymous
October 21, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Boyar was the maiden name of Mrs. Jack Warner. Could it be a relative?
Anonymous
October 21, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Hi R-
Good thinking- alas Ann Boyar Warner aka Ann Page or Ann Paige (1908-1990), was born in Ferriday, Louisianna and was the only child of a Russian Jewish Immigrant family.
I couldn't find an obit nor any “tie in” to her last name with anyone from the biz. There was a Sully Boyar (1923- 2001) in the biz, but as I say, no apparent familial connection.
K
PS Is there a Doctor (of Genealogy) in the house?
Anonymous
October 21, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Then there was Lynn Boyer, of course, but different spelling and decidedly different context!
Anonymous
October 24, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Hello Karl & Rob –
Thank you ever so much for your expertise. It would be a shame for such information and detail to be lost over time as it might prove useful and of interest to future EF scholars! One never knows. In reading a follow up article on the funeral itself, the reporter stated that the turnout was much less than expected, and that Jack Oakie was denied access by Forest Lawn employees who performed security.
Again, my appreciation to the both of you. I hope my inquiries are of a general and informative interest in the subject, and not quirky or trivial.
Rick
Anonymous
October 24, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Not quirky, not trivial. Never shy away from asking anything EF; one of us around here is sure to have the answer!
R
Anonymous
October 24, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Speaking of trivia: Mickey Rooney is the only pallbearer still living.
R
Anonymous
October 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Ahoy Rick-
Questions are always fascinating in that, often times, they lead to other and possibly even better ones, and send one towards the direction of still OTHER places to look.
I just now checked “the hold” of the (internet group) Zaca and Bonny's Master of Errol Flynn's Zaca and came up with this additional info:
James MacKinnon was the replacement to Captain Cother, as in, the general business manager, of sorts, to Zaca. I don't get the sense he was Captain (even though there was another charter- the Gilbert Family had their video of this on the net at one point)- just that he handled the practical details of Zaca while in residence in Majorca … apparently, in Flynn's absence. Both he and his wife, Gaby, were friends of E and Pat's and together they owned Couture Gaby in Palma.
Paul Buttles was mentioned in Bonny's book also and appears to have been a part of the Zaca scene both pre and post Captain Cother … beyond the diving connection as described in MWWW.
So thanks for your questions and kind words, both … and maybe someone will come up with still more of these lesser known people connections in the forever unfolding Flynn story.
Best- Karl
The Real Person!
June 20, 2012 at 10:57 pm
James (Jim) Mackinnon was not Errol’s business manager, nor was he a replacement for Captain Cother (although Jim was a great sailor). He was a close friend of Errol’s (had designed his yacht Sirocco), a direct neighbor and the main reason why Errol settled in Mallorca (to steer away from his problems with Hollywood). EF, and third wife Patricia Wymore, rented a house in Cas’ Catala called Villa Es Moli (means windmill in Mallorcan). My parents lived right next door in Villa Miguel Angel (they shared the same landlord and connecting wall). My parents, Jim and Gaby Mackinnon, owned a high fashion business called Gaby Couture (in Palma) which employed about 100 people. Gaby had been Miss England, and a house model for Christian Dior (my parents met in Mallorca on vacation and stayed). I have photos of Errol and my father, as joint MC’s for fashion shows at the Fenix Hotel. The Hollywood glam was quite the hit in town, as Pat also modeled for my mom on a couple of occasions. Errol’s daughter Arnella was a couple of years older than me and Errol would send Pepe (I think that was his name) in the Zaca’s dinghy to pick me up every day while my parents were at work. Off on the yacht we’d go, to a beach or cove somewhere; I was often placed in a small O life-ring, on a long rope tied to the side of the yacht (yes, in deep water) to paddle about; that’s probably how I learned the difference between sink and swim. Arnella apparently hit me in the face with a wooden truck and I had two black front teeth untill they fell out. Errol and Jim would organize the wildest parties on the private beach in front of our houses; EF liked to barbecue and would dig a deep hole in the sand, fill it with coals, then palm fronds on top, then place the meat. His secret sauce (I know this all from my mother) was Coca Cola which would caramelize everything. Everyone came in Hawaiian costume (they also had many Spanish friends); there were swimming races in the middle of the night across the cove (with a filled martini glass in hand you were expected to swim a couple of hundred yards in the dark and return with it intact, no spitting seawater allowed), and races on all fours blowing peas with a straw across the sand, along the entire beach. What with the noise and music my mother gave up on trying to get me to bed so apparently they’d let me curl up on a beach towel amongst the party goers. Every afternoon Errol would hang out at the Yacht Club in Palma after mooring the Zaca, join his cronies at the bar for vodka, and it would go from there. He enjoyed dining at a restaurant called El Patio (the most expensive place on the island) and then go next door to Joe’s Bar in Plaza Gomila until the wee hours. Unfortunately, both establishments have since gone to ruin and have been boarded up for years; both houses in Cas’ Catala were demolished in the 80’s in favor of an apartment building. Just before he died in ’59, Errol tried to convince my father to move to Jamaica and run his sugar cane estate in Montego Bay (he feared losing it in court), but my parents weren’t interested in leaving Mallorca, besides they had an ongoing successful business. In the 70’s my mother auctioned off for charity many of Errol’s belongings left to us. I have his gold signet ring with EF’s initials, which I gave to my daughter Alanna, also an actor. After EF’s death Pat Wymore returned to Mallorca on a couple of occasions and stayed in touch. Errol’s daughter Arnella Flynn (with wife Pat) has since passed away after a life long struggle with drugs, and Sean Flynn (son with wife Lilly Damita) whom my parents also met in Mallorca disappeared in Vietnam in the 60’s, as a photographer for the NYTimes. My mother moved on recently and I have a huge bagful of negatives that I have to sort through, so maybe I’ll find some treasures from EF’s days in Mallorca! I do have some other old photos and will post them soon.
Inga
June 21, 2012 at 5:50 am
Hi again, Gabrielle, thank you for telling us these extremely episodes about Errol on his birthday! What a treat!!!! It would be great if you could share the photos here, we are certainly all looking forward to them!
The Real Person!
June 21, 2012 at 8:41 pm
[img]http://s967.photobucket.com/albums/ae159/gsampietro/Errol%20Flynn/[/img]
Errol’s house Es Moli, in Cas Catala, Mallorca. This photo was taken at about the time he lived there. The white curved wall to the left delineated our property from his (our garden was under that big tree on the left). Both houses were demolished in the 80’s in favor of a really ugly apartment building. The beach was the site of many a Flynn party!
Inga
June 22, 2012 at 5:37 am
Thank you for sharing, Gabrielle, I hope I am the only one seeing a red x? Btw, David, I think there is another comment by Gabrielle which needs to be moderated…
Anonymous
October 25, 2009 at 2:05 am
I like reading all articles about EF and enjoy picking up info here. So keep it coming. I saw an interview of Vince Sherman where he stated that chairs were set up outside the chapel and no one used them, i.e., “turnout was much less than expected”.
Anonymous
October 25, 2009 at 3:01 am
And yet, my then & now photo of the outside of the church that day indicates a decidedly opposite occurrence!
www.theerrolflynnblog.com…
R
Inga
June 21, 2012 at 5:51 am
The link does not work anymore, which is a pity… maybe you could repair it, Robert?
Anonymous
October 25, 2009 at 4:44 am
You're right! There sure seems to be a full house. Whatever was Mr. Sherman trying to say? He and the news article make it sound like no one attended.
Anonymous
October 25, 2009 at 4:52 am
But we here prefer to believe otherwise, don't we!
Anonymous
October 25, 2009 at 5:18 am
Absolutely! I wish my mother had been a fan so I would have the low-down. I got so involved with Sam's Errolivia Youtube creations earlier (link) that I burned my dinner.
Anonymous
October 28, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Perhaps Mr. Sherman meant in compared to some of the riotous funerals such as Ty Power and of course Valentino.
Patti
Anonymous
October 29, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Hi Kathleen;
You say you liked Sam's Errolivia Youtube creations!
Maybe you might like mine too. I made six videos to commemorate Errol's 50 years of life – October 14, 1959.
It's under Bariebel on Youtube, I hope you like my presentations.
All the best to you,
Tina
Anonymous
October 29, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Hello All –
Thanks once more to everyone for their thoughtful responses. Indeed, I have a list of queries I would enjoy bringing forward to such a cordial and informative group! Allow me to collect myself and proceed. If it becomes too much, please sing out and advise — “Rick! Enough, already!” lol. To the contrary, I believe we all enjoy discussing Flynn. It is a true joy to be in the company of those who care to share their knowledge.
Rick
Anonymous
January 11, 2010 at 5:47 am
latimesblogs.latimes.com…
Rick I ran across an article that might have an additional name mentioned re pallbearers.