FLYNN, Errol

(1909–1959)

   Born in Australia, Errol Flynn, distinguished in speech and manner, starred in four big-budget Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s. He first made his reputation in swashbuckler films like Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) —all with Olivia de Havilland as his love interest. The pair continued their work together with three Westerns. While the impossibly handsome and athletic Flynn worked well in swashbuckling, costumefilms, he usually appeared an anomaly in his Westerns. In Dodge City (1939), for instance, he played a Texas cattleman (with a gentlemanly accent) who brings order to the lawless cow town. His character gets in a saloon fight more reminiscent of Captain Blooddays than the usual Western barroom brawl. In Santa Fe Trail (1940), he played Jeb Stuart, who, along with George Custer (Ronald Reagan), is hunting down abolitionist John Brown just prior to the Civil War. In his last Western, They Died with Their Boots On (1941), Flynn played General Custer. This biographical film traces the famous general’s career from West Point through his battle exploits in the Civil War to his marriage with Libby (de Havilland) and the Indian battles culminating in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Flynn’s Custer is flamboyant yet noble in pursuit of patriotic ideals; Flynn was perfect for the role. For many, Errol Flynn defined gentlemanly masculinity, dominating action movies for a short period of Hollywood history. He was certainly the most refined of Hollywood’s cowboy heroes. Flynn died of a heart attack at the age of 50.