My Wicked, Wicked Ways : The Autobiography of Errol Flynn

About the book

A hero to millions who adored his portrayals of Robin Hood and Fletcher Christian, Errol Flynn (1909- 59) lived a life that far surpassed any adventure he ever acted out on screen: exotic travels, criminal exploits, passionate love affairs, violent confrontations, scandals, and international fame. In this highly readable, witty and colourful autobiography, Flynn reveals himself and his remarkable life as he did nowhere else.

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'The most entertaining autobiography ever by an actor' 'Its greatest distinction is that it manages to pass beyond the conventionally "frank" to the unconventionally truthful in its portrait of an engaging but by no means overscrupulous romantic extrovert' 'An obstinately unabashed report' ' The most entertaining autobiography ever by an actor' ' Its greatest distinction is that it manages to pass beyond the conventionally " frank" to the unconventionally truthful in its portrait of an engaging but by no means overscrupulous romantic extrovert' ' A major autobiography in the tradition of Cellini, Casanova and Frank Harris. Perhaps it is not the book to leave alone in the house with your daughter, but Flynn was not the man to leave in the house with your daughter.' ' The confessions of a rake, unsparing of himself or anyone else' ' An obstinately unabashed report'

Errol Flynn Biography

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Olivia de Havilland, and reputation for his womanising and hedonistic personal life. His most notable roles include the eponymous hero in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), which was later named by the American Film Institute as the 18th greatest hero in American film history, the lead role in Captain Blood (1935), Major Geoffrey Vickers in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and the hero in a number of Westerns such as Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), and San Antonio (1945).

Early life

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born on 20 June 1909 in Battery Point, Tasmania. His father, Theodore Thomson Flynn, was a lecturer (1909) and later professor (1911) of biology at the University of Tasmania. His mother was born Lily Mary Young, but shortly after marrying Theodore at St John's Church of England, Birchgrove, Sydney, on 23 January 1909, she changed her first name to Marelle. Flynn described his mother's family as "seafaring folk" and this appears to be where his lifelong interest in boats and the sea originated. Both of his parents were Australian-born of Irish, English and Scottish descent. Despite Flynn's claims, the evidence indicates that he was not descended from any of the Bounty mutineers.Flynn received his early schooling in Hobart. He attended The Hutchins School, Hobart College, The Friends School and Albura Street Primary School and was expelled from each one. He made one of his first appearances as a performer in 1918, aged nine, when he served as a page boy to Enid Lyons in a queen carnival. In her memoirs, Lyons recalled Flynn as "a dashing figure—a handsome boy of nine with a fearless, somewhat haughty expression, already showing that sang-froid for which he was later to become famous throughout the civilized world". She further noted: "Unfortunately Errol at the age of nine did not yet possess that magic for extracting money from the public which so distinguished his career as an actor. Our cause gained no apparent advantage from his presence in my entourage; we gained only third place in a field of seven."From 1923 to 1925, Flynn attended the South West London College, a private boarding school in Barnes, London.In 1926, he returned to Australia to attend Sydney Church of England Grammar School (known as "Shore"), where he was the classmate of a future Australian prime minister, John Gorton. His formal education ended with his expulsion from Shore for theft, although he later claimed it was for a sexual encounter with the school's laundress.After being dismissed from a job as a junior clerk with a Sydney shipping company for pilfering petty cash, he went to Papua New Guinea at the age of eighteen, seeking his fortune in tobacco planting and gold mining in the Morobe Goldfield. H ... Read full biography