The Rollercoaster Life and Loves of Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn’s life was nothing short of cinematic. Born on 20 June 1909 in Hobart, Tasmania, he lived a life filled with adventure, scandal, and glamour that mirrored the dashing characters he brought to the silver screen. Though celebrated for his swashbuckling roles, Flynn’s personal life was equally compelling—a mix of extraordinary highs and dramatic lows.
Early Years: A Tasmanian Youth in a World of Change
Flynn was born to Theodore Flynn, a respected marine biologist, and his wife, Lily Mary Young. Theodore’s academic career often overshadowed family life, and Flynn grew up with a strong rebellious streak. Educated in Tasmania, Flynn was a mischievous and restless child, traits that would remain with him throughout his life.
At the age of fourteen, Flynn was sent to The South West London College, a modest private school in Barnes, South West London. The school, located at what is now 99–101 Castelnau, was a far cry from Flynn’s Tasmanian upbringing. This road of elegant Regency villas leading to Hammersmith Bridge must have seemed alien to a boy used to the wild landscapes of Australia. Flynn later described this period as one of the most unhappy times in his life, and he returned to Australia in 1926 after just a year.
Once back, Flynn was enrolled in the Sydney Church of England Grammar School, a prestigious institution that seemed to offer structure. But the structure did not last long—Flynn was expelled after reportedly having an affair with the school laundress. Whether true or exaggerated, this scandalous expulsion marked the first of many controversies in his life.
A Taste of Acting: From Australia to England
Flynn’s path to acting was unconventional. In 1933, he made his screen debut in the Australian film In the Wake of the Bounty, playing Christian Fletcher in a loose adaptation of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The film was low-budget and lacked polish, but Flynn’s presence caught attention, and it gave him a taste for performance. Realising he needed to refine his craft, Flynn sailed to England in search of opportunity.
Arriving in Britain, Flynn exaggerated his acting experience to secure roles in repertory theatre. He joined a company in Northampton, where he honed his craft and became known for his natural charisma. His time in Northampton was not without incident; a confrontation with a female stage manager ended in her falling down a flight of stairs—a dramatic turn that cost Flynn his job.
Despite the setback, Flynn’s charm and good looks opened doors. He landed the lead role in the now-lost film Murder at Monte Carlo (1935), produced at Teddington Studios. Warner Brothers executives, impressed by his screen presence, quickly signed him to a contract and whisked him off to Hollywood.
Hollywood Stardom: Captain Blood and Beyond
Flynn’s Hollywood career took off with lightning speed. Just two years after his shaky performance in In the Wake of the Bounty, he starred in Captain Blood (1935), directed by Michael Curtiz. The film established Flynn as a leading man, combining athleticism, charm, and good looks in a role that would define his career.
He quickly became typecast as a swashbuckler, starring in classics like The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940), and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), often alongside Olivia de Havilland. Flynn’s partnership with Curtiz was instrumental in shaping his career, though the two famously clashed off-screen.
In 1935, Flynn married French actress Lili Damita, whose fiery temperament matched his own. Their marriage was tumultuous, marked by infidelity and public disputes, but it produced a son, Sean Flynn, in 1941.
Errol Flynn & Lili Damita in 1935
Scandal and Controversy
Flynn gained notoriety for his womanizing, heavy drinking, chain smoking, and, during the 1940s, narcotics abuse. He was addicted to alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and sex. He was romantically linked with Lupe Vélez, Marlene Dietrich, and Dolores del Río, among many others. Carole Lombard reportedly resisted his advances but invited him to her lavish parties. He frequently attended William Randolph Hearst's equally extravagant gatherings at Hearst Castle, although he was once asked to leave for being excessively drunk.
The phrase "in like Flynn" is believed to have originated from the ease with which he supposedly seduced women, though its origin is debated. Flynn was known to be fond of the phrase and later claimed he wanted to title his memoir In Like Me. The publisher, however, insisted on a more sensational title, My Wicked, Wicked Ways.
Flynn had various mirrors and secret viewing spots installed in his mansion, including a trapdoor above a guest bedroom for covert observation. Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood visited the house as a potential buyer in the 1970s and noted, "Errol had two-way mirrors... speaker systems in the ladies' room. Not for security. Just that he was an A-1 voyeur." In March 1955, the popular Hollywood gossip magazine Confidential published a scandalous article titled "The Greatest Show in Town... Errol Flynn and His Two-Way Mirror!" In her 1966 biography, actress Hedy Lamarr wrote, "Many of the bathrooms have peepholes or ceilings with squares of opaque glass through which you can't see out but someone can see in."
He had a Schnauzer dog named Arno, specially trained to protect him. They attended premieres, parties, restaurants, and clubs together until the dog's death in 1941.
On 15 June 1938, during filming, Arno bit Bette Davis on the ankle in a scene where she struck Flynn. By 1940, Flynn was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but his personal life was increasingly scandalous. Known for his hedonistic lifestyle, Flynn indulged in alcohol, drugs, and women, earning a reputation as a libertine.
Flynn’s health began to deteriorate, a result of years of excess and earlier illnesses. He suffered from chronic malaria, tuberculosis, and a heart condition, all of which he masked with self-medication. Despite this, the public still saw him as the epitome of male perfection, a perception Warner Brothers worked hard to maintain.
Aboard the Zaca during filming of The Lady from Shanghai, Errol Flynn, Nora Eddington, Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles celebrate Hayworth’s birthday (October 1946)
In 1943, Flynn’s career faced its greatest challenge when he was charged with statutory rape by two underage girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee. The trial was a media sensation, with lurid details dominating headlines. Flynn denied the charges, and his defence portrayed him as the victim of opportunistic accusations. The jury acquitted him, but the trial tarnished his reputation irreparably.
Betty Hansen and Peggy Setterlee in court
Marriages and Relationships
During the trial, Flynn met Nora Eddington, a 19-year-old who worked in the courthouse. They secretly married in 1944 and had two children, Deirdre and Rory. However, the marriage was short-lived, ending in divorce in 1949.
Flynn’s later years were marked by his controversial relationship with Beverly Aadland, a 15-year-old aspiring actress. The two were inseparable despite the public outcry, and Flynn even attempted to launch her acting career.
In a People magazine interview from 1988 Aadland described meeting Flynn for the first time:
It was 1957, and I was 15 and working on the Warner Bros, lot as a dancer in a scene with Gene Kelly in Marjorie Morningstar (a film with a character played by a 46 year old Gene Kelly seducing an 18 year old Natalie Wood) when Orry-Kelly, the designer, came fluttering over from the next set saying that Errol Flynn wanted to meet me. I wasn’t very enthusiastic—I had met a lot of movie stars. I was taught to be very polite, so I went.
I met him in his dressing room, where his secretary was making coffee. No, I hadn’t heard about the statutory rape charges, about the teenage girls he had supposedly seduced. He asked me if I wanted to read for a play. I said I had to ask my mother, he said to use the phone. Errol said the reading would be at Huntington Hartford’s Hollywood estate, where he was staying. He said his secretary, his stuntman and his agent would be present, and also that he would like to take me to dinner. Mother finally said okay, that it would be a great opportunity.I remember driving up to the estate; it was gorgeous.
I read for the part, but the whole thing was a ruse—somebody else already had the part. Then we went to dinner at the Imperial Gardens—no shoes and hot saki. I didn’t drink, but I had a little hot saki that night. Back at the house, the others just disappeared. The scene was lovely—a great fire was roaring in the fireplace. There were thick bearskin rugs on the marble floors. Outside the lodge, deer would come to the great front window. The lighting was soft. Errol invited me down on the rug…
Career Decline and Final Years
By the early 1950s, Flynn’s career was in decline. Warner Brothers terminated his contract in 1950, a devastating blow that signalled the end of his dominance in Hollywood. Financial troubles mounted as Flynn continued to spend lavishly, often beyond his means.
In 1959, Flynn produced and starred in Cuban Rebel Girls, a low-budget film that showcased his declining health and diminished star power. The film, set against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution, was poorly received, but Flynn seemed undeterred.
A few months later, in October, Flynn and Aadland were in Canada where Flynn was hoping to sell his luxury yacht. Suddenly he felt unwell – it may have been a recurrence of his malaria but well could have been his extended colon or the heart disease he had lived with for years – and they arranged for him to visit a doctor at a house in Vancouver. The Doctor and his wife realising a famous former movie star was about to visit their home invited guests around to meet him. On the 16th October 1959 The Daily Mirror reported:
In the last hour of his life Errol Flynn gave his finest performance. Last night, while an audience of seven people in a doctor’s house at Vancouver, Canada, rocked with laughter, Errol leaned nonchalantly against a wall in the living-room, pantomiming his entire fantastic career.Racked with pain, but with a grin on his face, Errol made merciless fun of himself and the whole Hollywood merry-go-round.When he finished his show he went towards another room. At the door Errol turned, raised a finger and said: ‘I shall return.
Except he didn’t. Ten minutes later Aadland went to see if he was alright. He was already dead.
The Daily Mirror reported that a few hours later:
Beverly Aadland was found wandering in the streets of Vancover wearing only underclothes and a negligee. She appeared to be in a daze, and said: “I can’t understand why everyone is so upset about Errol Flynn. He’s at hospital, but is coming home in the morning”. She bent down to pat a dog, and said: ‘You’re lonely, too, aren’t you?”.
A few months later, in 1960 and back in Los Angeles, Beverly seemed to have forgotten Flynn, and was in a relationship with a young man called William Stanciu. Within a few weeks of seeing each other tragedy struck again when he was found unconscious in her apartment after being shot in the head. He died the next day in hospital on his 21st birthday. Although it was ruled an accident, Aadland`s story shifted all the time – initially she said it was suicide after Stanciu had told her to close her eyes but later she said that it was an unfortunate accident while they were playfully wrestling with each other.
Not long after Stanciu’s death Florence Aadland was arrested for public drunkenness and Beverly was sent to a juvenile centre. Florence was found guilty of contributing to Beverly’s delinquency and was sentenced to jail for two months. Florence complained to the court:
This could ruin her night club career! They can’t send my baby to Juvenile Hall! There’s no telling what she’ll learn from those nasty girls in there. I haven’t done anything — I’ll sue for false arrest!
Florence then scolded the press for reporting that she was 53. “I’m only 46,” she said. (She was actually 50.)
It was reported by the LA Times that the Authorities had concluded that Beverly was a $100 a night under-age prostitute who had been ‘intimate with adult males since the age of 12’. Florence, a former showgirl, denied that her actions hurt her daughter:
It’s these young Hollywood men. If only Errol Flynn was alive my little girl wouldn’t be in this mess.
Over the next few decades Beverly married twice and got divorced twice. Her final relationship was with a man called Ronald Fisher, a garage owner and auto-parts dealer. They married and Beverly became a housewife. Fisher said that it had been what she had wanted all her life.
In 2010, 50 years after two of her lovers had died so unexpectedly, Beverly Aadland, at the age of 67, died of diabetes and heart disease.
Flynn's coffin on a Union Station railway platform in Los Angeles
Not long before he died Errol Flynn was asked what he thought of his life:
I earned seven million dollars for brandishing a sword, riding a horse and screaming ‘Charge!’I did not deserve it, but I certainly didn’t mind spending it. The public has always expected me to be a playboy and a decent chap never lets his public down.
Errol Flynn’s life remains one of Hollywood’s most enduring legends. His swashbuckling roles, scandalous personal life, and untimely death have secured his place in cinematic history. His autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, offers a candid glimpse into the life of a man who lived for adventure, and behaved badly at every turn.