Lili D. was at this location when it caught fire and a bit later exploded. Where was she and who was she with?
Number 2 marks the spot on this old map of Hollywood.
— Tim
Archive for the ‘Newspaper & Headlines’ Category
’56 Errol: A Charming Rogue
27
Feb
February 27, 1956 (62 years ago today)
San Bernardino Sun
THE DAILY SUN
ON THE HOLLYWOOD BEAT
Errol Flynn, ‘Charming Rogue’, Denies Reports
By JAMES BACON HOLLYWOOD
Errol Flynn, a charming rogue who never has pretended to be anything else, wants to debunk all those reports that he has reformed. Since his return to Hollywood, after more than four years abroad, the columns have been filled with items about the new Errol Flynn. It’s true that he is shelling out a reported $900,000 for back alimony and back taxes. It’s also true that he’s been in town for several weeks without engaging in any of the famous one-punch Sunset Strip brawls for which he was famed a decade ago. But a reformed Flynn? Never. “It’s all a lie, a malicious slander started, I suspect, by Bruce Cabot,” Errol reassures. “Don’t believe a word of it.
HE’S MORE DISCREET
“The only difference between the so-called new Flynn and the old Flynn is that the new Flynn is the same as ever only more discreet. And please spell that with three E’s. Nothing else has changed.” It hasn’t either. A visit to the set of NBC’s Screen Directors Playhouse television films finds the same Flynn who used to give Jack L. Warner ulcers. He’s still sipping straight vodka out of a water glass between takes; charming every girl on the set from the leading lady to the wardrobe seamstresses and surprisingly his ex-mother-in-law. Mrs. Jack Eddington, mother of Nora Eddington Flynn Haymes, had this to say about her ex-son-in-law: “He’s such a wonderful man, please write something nice about him.” To which Flynn interrupted: “If he does, it’ll ruin me. There are only a few of us characters left.”
How does it feel to be back home after four and a half years? “To tell you the truth,’ he answered “I was served with so many summons the first day I thought I had only been away a week.” Now that Errol is settling all back bills, he’s here to stay, Flynn, besides being the last of the Rabelaisian characters in Hollywood, is also a realist. He knew that he had to pay up in order to work.
PLAYS FAMOUS ROGUE
In the television film, “The Sword of Villon,” he plays the famous rogue poet, Francois Villon who was a sort of medieval Errol Flynn. From there, he goes to Universal-International to play modern day intrigue in “Istanbul,” then back to England for a television series and then Hollywood for good. Offers are coming in fast be cause Flynn, for all his peccadilloes, sells tickets at the boxoffice. In the television film, leading lady Hillary Brooke tells Villon: “You’re a rogue.” To which Flynn answers: “I give you no argument there.” “How’s that for typecasting?” he smiles between takes.
The Sword of Villon,1956
Istanbul,1956
Errol Flynn Theatre, 1956
— Tim
A 180 for Flynn
14
Feb
A timely tribute to The Great Flynn – for his world record winter sport performance in Switzerland, circa 1950.
“The Cresta is effectively an ice slide carved into the snow, 1,200 metres long, it winds its way from above the ‘Leaning Tower’ in St. Moritz down a steep gully through ten testing corners, past the tiny hamlet of Cresta, to the village of Celerina. Unlike bobsledding, members ride on single sleds, head first, hurtling down the slopes at speeds reaching up to 130 kilometres per hour, steering and breaking only with their feet.”
“There is only one way for a man to keep from zinging down Cresta out of control; by the simple but strenuous method of pressing his toe rakes ever harder against the ice. If a man has enormously strong legs, he can press hard enough to bring the wagon to a full halt on the course.”
“Errol Flynn, it turned out, had precisely such strong legs.”
Reports vary, but it is said Flynn came to a full stop midway down the course, lit a cigarette, met a beautiful beautiful woman, swigged some champagne, and finished his run with the world record slowest time ever recorded – 180 seconds. … Then left in a Rolls, never to return.
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – January 7, 1947
07
Jan
“Nora expects the baby in the last week of February. She got a beautiful bracelet and some gorgeous gold filigree jewelry from Errol at Christmas.”
Errol & Rory at Mulholland Farm
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – January 6, 1943
06
Jan
Down Mexico Way
“One of my friends in Mexico writes that when Errol Flynn was there he was attentive to the most beautiful, dark-eyed Mexican girl she had ever seen.” – Louella Parsons, January 6, 1943
“In 1943, Errol Flynn flew down to Acapulco – then nothing more than a clutch of buildings surrounded by jungle” – The Guardian: April 15, 2006″
Acapulco in the 1940s
Acapulco 2017
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – January 5, 1940
06
Jan
Motion Picture Daily
“Errol Flynn left Hollywood yesterday for a two-week vacation in Boca Raton.”
—-
When Flynn visited Boca in those days, a town of only a few thousand residents before WWII, he was known to visit the world famous Boca Raton Resort, Cap’s Place restaurant and casino (where FDR and Churchill dined during there planning their taking down of Hitler and Hirohoto),and the legendary Delray Arcade Tap Room, all still here and all pictured below. He also fished off the coast of Ft. Lauderale, and is said to have also liked hunting in the Everglades.
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – January 4, 1940
04
Jan
“ILLEGAL PASSAGE”
“ERROL FLYNN NAMES PALS IN HIS ORIGINAL PLAY WRITTEN FOR FILM”
Errol Flynn has drawn from his own private circle of cronies for many of the characters of his new original screen play entitled Illegal Passage, intimates of the Warner star have disclosed.
One, for example, is named “Big” Thompson. He is a former Texas cowboy, rough and tough, but with a heart as big as his frame. He’s the principle character’s best friend. Another of Flynn’s closest friend’s is Guinn (Big Boy) Williams, former Texas cowhand turned motion picture actor. And the description fits like a glove.
Another character bears the name of Bud Ernest. Friends pointed out that Flynn’s flying companion and his close friend for many years is Bud Ernst, former stunt flyer and now a radio promotion executive.
Several other characters of the story – the nature of which is being kept a close secret – bear striking resemblance to other members of Flynn’s intimate circle. There is even a comic, friends say, by the name of John Byer, who might be John Meyer, Flynn’s demon promoter pal.
Flynn’s story is now being read by Warners.
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – January 3, 1947
04
Jan
Kingston, Jamaica
“FILM FANS MOB ERROL FLYNN AT MYRTLE BANK”
Errol Flynn came ashore from his yacht at the Myrtle Bank Hotel at noon yesterday – and nearly created a riot. As the handsome, dashing screen star entered the lobby., a waiting army of female hotel fans, who had impatiently been waiting his coming ashore, mobbed him in traditional style.
Since news of his arrival spread through Kingston and St. Andrew yesterday, local cinemaddicts have been concentrating on the Myrtle Bank in an effort to secure autographs, snapshots, or just look at the daring he-man lover of the screen in the flesh.
Gathering yesterday morning a battery of woman fans filled the lobby and verandahs of the hotel. “Bobby-soxers” were in the majority, but there were lots of grownups, too. Impatiently they looked out across the hotel lawn to the pier, and beyond it, where the Zaca rode at anchor on the quiet Caribbean.
Came 12 o’clock and still no sign of the tall hero of Captain Blood, Elizabeth and Essex and other screen successes which have thrilled local audiences. The now-retired movie actor, who arrived here on Wednesday, stayed aboard his yacht this afternoon, along with members of his party.
THE WORD GOES UP
Suddenly there was a sensation. The word went up that he was coming. Large as life, and as handsome as he appears on screen, Errol Flynn walked into the lobby. Something like a cross between a scream and a sigh issued from a hundred lips. The actor smiled at the demonstration.
When they crowded around him, however, he decide it was too much of a good thing. Quickly getting into a waiting motorcar, he left the hotel and did not return until during the evening. The fans, torn between partial satisfaction and partial disappointment, went away.
Presence of the popular actor, whose exploits, on and off the screen, have won him wide mention, has made Myrtle Bank the focus of local attention. Busiest switchboard in town is the PBX at Myrtle Bank, where the telephone operator spent half a day yesterday saying, “Yes, he is here. No, he hasn’t come ashore yet.”
CLERKS KEEP BUSY
No less busy has been the desk, where the clerks have been equally engaged in answering queries as to the whereabouts of Mr. Flynn. Autograph books and baby cameras have been greatly in evidence, while the staff have been kept on their toes coping with the extra demand on their time as a result of the increased number of visitors to the hotel.
— Tim
A Day in the Life of Flynn – New Year’s Day, 1942
02
Jan
“Errol Flynn is a dashing Custer. How he rides, and how wonderful he looks in his uniform.”
– Louell O. Parsons
Playing on the bill with Boots at Warner Theaters was the Academy Award Nominated Rhapsody in Rivets.
Also playing was Water Sports (Film not found):
“Diving, swimming, surf-board riding and water skiing are the topics in the Technicolor short from Warners. Champion diver Ruth Nurmi demonstrates some of the dives which have won her championship titles, while Fairid Sumaika does the same for his gender. Comic diver Bill Lewin also appears.”
— Tim
New Kid On the Lot
29
Dec
Quiz on a Questionnaire
Fresh from England in the Fall of 1934, Errol had his “first official” stateside interview. Conducted on Warner Brothers’ “Burbank campus” by Carlisle Jones, “dean of Hollywood press agents”, this debut interview revolved around answers Errol had recently provided on a WB publicity questionnaire. According to that questionnaire and interview:
1. Errol’s Schoolboy Ambition was:
a) To be a pirate
b) To be a movie star
c) nil
2. His Present Ambition was:
a) Success in movies
b) To meet Greta Garbo
c) To sail to Hawaii in his own yacht
3. His foremost interest aside from acting was:
a) Literature
b) Marrying a movie star
c) Big game hunting in Africa
4. He suppressed a desire to be a:
a) Biologist
b) Bartender
c) Pianist
5. If he failed at acting, he would:
a) Go to law school
b) Marry rich
c) Return to New Guinea as a gold prospector
6. He reported his dancing and singing talents as:
a) God-given
b) Better than average
c) Imperceptible
7. He identified his favorite city as:
a) Paris
b) London
c) Shanghai
8. Following his interview, Carlisle Jones escorted Errol to the Warner Brothers first-aid hospital to treat:
a) A fencing wound
b) A blister
c) A sudden malarial attack
9. The reason for his hospital visit was:
a) Olivia De Havilland
b) Pinch-toed shoes
c) The Sepik River
10. On the way to the Warner Brothers hospital, Errol asked Carlisle Jones:
a) What were the best bars in Hollywood to meet women?
b) Who were the best movie star tennis players in Hollywood?
c) Was Lili Damita married?
— Tim
