The Errol Flynn Blog

It was medium brown naturally with reddish-gold tints. If at times it looked lighter, it was because he had been out in the sun by his pool. His eyes were definitely not blue, as often shown in colored photos. They were brown with gold flecks in them. One of the tragedies for me, who knew him well and once was his house guest for two months, was the leaden quality that his eyes eventually took on after the increased drug problems. It seemed as if all the life and sparkling impudence left them.

Steve Hayes

— ivan6gold

I just wanted to wish everyone of you a very joyful Christmas and a wonderfully Happy New Year!  And that includes you, Linc!

Hopefully, all of us will get what we wish for in the coming year.

Hugs to you all

Your pal, Sir Ivanhoe

— ivan6gold

Linc and David, this one's especially for you.– but for you other guys too.

When I was writing Googie's I left out a few things re my time at EF's house.  Mainly because they weren't that exciting, I felt, or particulary savory or enhancing of EF's image — which I refuse to soil.  Also, the book was growing longer and longer…

But for a reason I will explain later, here is a piece I will now describe.  One Sunday afternoon at the house some people we know were drinking around the pool.  Flynn, Cabot, me, my then-wife Gloria, Hedda Hopper, Bob Stack, Steve Cochran (Barbara Payton may have been there, can't remember), Raoul Walsh, I want to say that Grougho  Marks was there but I'm not certain, some starlets from Warners and UI, and others.  We were playing a game of: Why is it called the X.  One example: The Rat Race.  Errol, in his cups, said because human beings were always running around crazy, biting each other, humping (my word) each other, stealing from each other, back-biting, etc, etc.  Nothing else did it like rats so that's why life was called the Rat Race.  Stack disagreed.  Said cockroaches were far worse at it, and what's more had been around millions of years longer than rats.  He, who was pretty sauced by then, said from now on he was calling life the Roach Race.  That became a challenge for EF who promptly said let's  prove it.  Let's get some rats and cockroaches and race 'em and see who's right.  So, off we went down to the stables to find rats and roaches.  Couldn't find any of the latter but there were plenty of field rats (smaller than those huge barge rats from the Continent that came over on theMayflower!!).  Errol and Cabot set up a track on the floor of the stable where they held  cockfights.  Marked lanes (think they used boards at first which didn't work and ended up using string to keep rats in line).  Well, people started betting on the races and because of drinking things weren't as controlled as they should be.  Suddenly Hedda screamed and said she'd been bitten.  She ran out screaming and everyone waited until she was out of earshot (then howled).  They were afraid of her, and Louella, as you know,because of their columns and power to hurt careers.  Gloria finally ran after her and drove her to the emergency hospital.  After that, rat racing lost its luster, EF got bored (I swear he had attention deficit problems, not called that then). and took one or two of the starlets into the house — ho ho ho — and most of us returned to the pool.  (Another problem at end, one of the dogs got loose from  Marge at the house and came down and chased the rats — which now really went fast).  That was that.

Now, why am I shedding light on this?  Because the other day I picked up a book called Hollywood Revisited by Sheilah Graham, the other gossip columnist who lived with Scott Fitzgerald.  I disliked her, she was just as vicious as Hedda and Lolly Parsons but pretend to be peaches and cream — but as I thumbed thru the book I saw some Flynn stuff.  None of it new, but to her credit some bad, some  good, pretty fair assessments — and then lo and behold, she described “my” afternoon at the rat races!  It was then I had a flashback and realized it hadn't been Hedda Hopper but Sheilah at the house that day.  My memory had failed me.  So, since the book had been marked down to nine bucks I bought it.  The few lines are on P. 258.  (There is also that photo of EF boxing with Mushy Callahan) So I got to thinking, maybe I should share it with you guys and anyone else interested in EF.  So, there you are.  Not a Day At the Races by any means, but certainly an example of The Rat Race.  Maybe it was not Groucho but Mickey Rooney.  Who was no stranger. 

I wrote this yestrday but forgot to save it and it didn't post.  So here it is again.  Sir Ivanhoe.

— ivan6gold

Hey guys:

It was brought to my attention by Karl that few know that one of Flynn's nicknames was the Colonel.  More people used the Baron of Mulholland — which though no one is sure I think came from Jack Warner originally when he said something like Flynn was living like a goddamn baron up on a mountaintop!

Colonel was an early nickname.  Alan Hale was Sarge and Big Boy Guinn Williams was Corporal.  It may have originated on “Charge”.  I can't recall offhand if Hale or Big Boy was in “Charge” but it they were, that might have started the trend.

It also may have started with Niven back in the Dawn Patrol era — or on Died WTBO.  I never asked and never remember anyone mentioning it.

I called him Colonel somewhat jokingly (derisively in a good-natured way) and he once called David Niven the Major — but Niven and he were together by 1949-50, so though I met David and was at his Pacific Palisades house (The Pink Palace) I never saw them together.  But Flynn genuinely liked him.  And Ty Power too — when the three of them chummed around together.

Anyway, that's the story behind the Colonel.

Cheers

— ivan6gold

Hi everyone:

I just left an answer to Shamrock regarding Tyrone Power.  I hope it's received.  It makes me so angry when I read stuff (his article referred to the suggestion that Ty Power was gay or bisexual) that is untrue about famous people after they're dead.

It's so easy to speak ill of the dead.  They're defenseless and not only that but it makes the person talking about them seem as if they were privy to special secrets none of us ordinary folks are.  It elevates them at the dead person's expense.

Having lunched with Power several times at Fox while I was under contract there, had dinner with him while he lived with Linda at Bel Air, and just talked to him on various movie sets — I can assure you that no finer or nicer guy existed.  And this is not just my opinion, it's the opinions of everyone who ever knew him.  Including his ex-wives.

I was close to Lana Turner in the mid fifties and she, as most film buffs know, was madly in love with him for a while.  They dated and saw each other in Mexico, even as he was supposedly dating Judy Garland.  And I mentioned Power to Lana (actually we all called her by her real name, Judy) and even though at the time she'd been bitter about getting dumped by Power, she still never spoke ill of him.  “Gracious” was one of the key words that come to mind when discussing Ty.

So let's all try to stop these rumors about past stars from circulating.  Maybe we can then remember these people, who still give us so much pleasure when watching them on the screen, as they really were – Hollywood version of royalty! 

Best, Steve

— ivan6gold

To Robert Florczak:

Bob, I got a kick out of the phone numbers in the late 50s you displayed.  By coincidence I still have four numbers that I obviously called constantly.  Googie's, Sherry's, Frascati's (Villa Frascati, actually) and Schwab's (for Sidney Skolsky).

All correspond to the ones in your blog. Talk about 52 years disappearing in a flash!

Keep up the good work, pal

Steve

— ivan6gold

Actually, Flynn had few equals, if any, among the Hollywood crowd.  Bill Tilden, the Federer of his day, made it clear that if Errol had wanted to, put his mind to playing tennis seriously he would have been world class.

He tried to teach me but, as I mention in my books, I had an older brother I disliked intensely who played at Wimbledon Lawn and Tennis Club — as a member — and any thought that reminded me of him was a turn-off.  I did however go on to be a world class amateur archer who shot on US teams and in National tournaments.  I was married then to a woman named Constance whom was actually better than I was  and end up at one time breaking a lot of California records and ranking 4th in the world.  Together, with her high scores, we won the National Husband and Wife trophy (1963) held at UCLA.

I loved archery and went hunting and plinking (shooting at tin cans, etc) with Rory Calhoun and Guy Madison frequently, and did exhibitions with the famed Howard Hill — Errol's buddy.

Hope this answers your question, pal

— ivan6gold

Hi everyone:

I'm a long-time writer who has just finished my two volume memoirs “Googie's, Coffee Shop to the Stars, and in it have discussed my friendship with Errol.

I knew him well and was a guest at his house for almost a month early in 1950.  I never actually intedned to write an autobiography but then I got angrier and angrier at the heinous bios that came out describing Flynn as a spy and bisexual, etc.

Having spent many a night sitting around yakking in the living room in our bathrobes, with only Marge Eddington on the premises (in her room) I can assure you that if Errol had had bisexual tendencies he would have hit on me.  As the photos in my memoirs show I was attractive and certainly young enough to entice anyone to me.  Never ever once did he suggest, hint or make any moves toward me.

I also helped him home from nightspots many an evening when he was bombed and again he had the excuse of alcohol to get touchy-feely and never did.  And his wives would have attested to his virility.

As for his being a spy, that is so ludicrous it's hardly worth denying.  Errol was certainly generally thinking of Errol, that was his nature, but he had a high regard for the US and thought the world of Roosevelt.  I know, he told me so.

Anyway, I'm here and willing to answer any reasonable questions about The Colonel, so feel fre to ask.  With Buster and Nora gone, and his daughters “distant” to say the least, there ain't too many of us left who actually knew him.  I think his friend and a pal of mine, Patric Knowles is gone too.

That's it for now.  I hope you enjoy my memoirs as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Steve Hayes

— ivan6gold