Dear Flynnmates,
‘nwuff said.
Enjoy,
— shangheinz
Archive for the ‘Animals’ Category
Never Say Die, The Beatles, and Errol Flynn
02
May
…
Errol at the 1954 Epsom Derby
“[This book] relates the story of original Beatles drummer Pete Best’s mother Mona pawning her jewelry to bet on the longshot Never Say Die to win the 1954 Epsom Derby. She cashed in her winnings to put a down payment on a house in Liverpool where she converted the basement into the Casbah Coffee Club with the opening, and soon to be regular, band, The Quarrymen (later renamed The Beatles), in residence.”
Per former Beatle Pete Best’s account, if Never Say Die had not won the Epsom Derby, there very likely would have never been a Casbah Coffee Club, nor therefore The Beatles. So, without his ever knowing so, Errol was at one of the most pivotal events in entertainment and cultural history.
— Tim
Errol at the Derby?🗡🏇
02
May
It’s been said by a credible source (but I have no written or photographic evidence) that Errol was at the 1956 Kentucky Derby, where he bet on aptly-named ‘King O’ Swords’, but witnessed “Needles’ win in one the greatest come-from-behind victories ever.
Anyone have any information or evidence of Errol being at this or any other Kentucky Derby?
Anyone see him in the photo below? :-)
— Tim
Who was it? What was it?
19
Dec
One of the actors in the Escape Me Never photo below did something highly unusual on the set? Who was it and what was it?
— Tim
Did Errol Do It?
22
Oct
October 20, 1937
Did Errol really shoot this bobcat?
Was he arrested for doing so, as rumor has it?
Or, was it really Howard Hill who did the shooting?
If it was Errol, was he really aiming for that other, far more dangerous cat, Tiger Lil?
…
— Tim
Arno the Arnochist — Raising Hell at the Hotel Del
05
Sep
September 5, 1980 / May 1942
Errol Flynn’s Antic Stay at the Hotel Del Coronado
Excerpt from Esquire Magazine, May 1942. The Writings of Errol Flynn. “It Shouldn’t Happen to an Actor”
Friendship with Arno meant you were a cinch to lose most of your friends. There were times when the only answer seemed to be to change my name or leave the country. Like that time at the Coronado Hotel The Coronado Hotel is an austere establishment where rich old folks go to play until they die. The waitresses get off weekends to visit their grandchildren. You are kept awake nights by the dull thud of guests dropping dead.
Disaster, ever Arno’s sidekick, struck one day in the dining room of that hotel. Eating was always a problem because Arno insisted on eating with me. If you chased him out of the restaurant, he would just come in another door. When the door was shut he would wail for some customers and come in again camouflaged between their legs.
On this particular day I had (I thought) double-locked him in my room upstairs. One of the hotel’s younger set – a quaint little thing of about seventy – always complained that the dining room was cold, in spile of the temperature being a good eighty. She also maintained it was so dark she couldn’t see, though you could take snapshots in there at night and they would have been overexposed. So she announced she would provide her own lighting. Soon a tall stand-lamp arrived and was installed behind her chair. When lit the first night it was found to contain a 200-watt bulb of such brilliance that it temporarily blinded everyone who looked in her direction. The waitresses were the ones who suffered most They would serve her something and turn around to get something else, and everything would immediately go black. They would usually drop whatever they were holding. One of them partially solved the problem by wearing dark glasses. Of course nothing much could be done about the heating arrangements. From the heat generated by her lamp, people at adjoining tables already perspired freely throughout meals, but the frail little old lady sat serenely under her 200-watt umbrella and remarked how cold she was. She . finally achieved some measure of comfort by coming into meals wearing several silver fox furs. This was partly the cause of the trouble.
One night I was sitting in the dining room over a bottle of wine when a cat passed by the table. I knew this cat slightly. He was a prosperous executive-looking kind of cat and apparently had the exclusive use of the kitchen and dining room. Business was good with him. Suddenly there was a commotion at the dining room entrance. There was a scraping of chairs; the head waiters began moving around agitatedly. The hair on the back of the business cat shot up as though someone had got by the secretary he didn’t want to see.
It was Arno. How he got out of the room I don’t know. He had just started to give me a brief nod, a sort of double take, when he saw the cat. That was enough! They broke beautifully from the gate without a second’s difference in the start hugging the rail the cat skidded around several tables three lengths ahead of Arno. At the far turn, Arno had shortened and was coming up on the outside. Coming into the stretch it began to lode like a photo finish when the cat taking a desperate gamble, swerved sharply under the frail little old lady’s table. Arno, trailing by barely half a length now, saw dangling in front of him the fox fur and! It was horrible.
The screams of the waitresses, the hoarse shouts of the men, the smash of crockery, rose to a sudden deafening explosion as the 200-watt lamp crashed to the floor and broke shivering into a thousand pieces. Arno had the little old lady’s silver fox fur by the throat in a killer’s grip. On dark nights, the sounds still ring in my ears. All in all, the hotel was very nice about it After I had paid for the damage the management said I could come and stay there practically any time – alone.
…
Here’s Errol at the Hotel Del pool … sans Arno
— Tim
A Flynn Farm Call for Hoppers and Cockatoos
08
Aug
August 9, 1939
The Wireless Weekly
Errol Flynn Wants Australian Pets
Cockatoos and Wallabies For Hollywood Home
Hollywood, the land of milk and honey, the home of plenty. Just everything in the world can be purchased there — except a pair of wallabies and a pair of those good old Australian cockatoos.
Errol Flynn, dashing Australian star, lately seen here in “Dodge City,” has been rushing round lately building and furnishing his new home, which now seems to be complete — but still not to the satisfaction of Errol.
In a letter to Sydney, Errol states that, while his home is all that could be desired, it misses out on just two things, and those things – shades of Australia! — are wallabies and cockatoos.
One would expect Mr. Flynn to favor perhaps a lion cub or a polar bear. But no; a pair of hoppers are his prime interest, with a pair of old yellow crests as second favorite.
Last week, Dorothy Flukes, of the Warner Bros.’ Australian office, told country listeners of the interest the Flynns are taking in their lovely new home, and she went on to give a few highlights of Errol’s life since reaching Hollywood.
Can Anybody Oblige?
Pearl fishing, prospecting, island trading, and even a little black-birding all supplied the earlier background for this colorful character.
If anybody has a pair of wallabies or cockatoos, or even one of these animals or birds that they would like to send to Mr. and Mrs. Flynn as a present for their new home, then a line to Miss Flukes, care of Warner Bros. Pictures, Sydney, will take care of everything.
Miss Flukes will arrange for cartage, transport, customs, feeding, etc., and at the same time arrange for Errol Flynn and his beautiful wife (Lili Damita) to send to the giver a personal letter of thanks and a photograph of the pets in their new home.
— Tim
A Speedie Recovery
27
Jul
July 27, 1936
Jimmy Starr
LA Evening Herald Express
Eight years ago when adventuresome Errol Flynn, now Warner’s new film rave, represented the British Government at New Guinea, one of his many odd duties was to act as physician and surgeon.
When a native named Joe Speedie appeared at headquarters with a gangrenous toe as a result of having been bitten by a poisonous fish, it was “Dr” Flynn who performed the necessary amputation of the infected toe. The emergency operation saved Joe’s life.
Last week, “Dr” Flynn received a belated fee for his surgical gesture, a valuable gold-headed cane. Joe explained in the accompanying letter that he had seen Errol in Captain Blood and was most happy to have located his benefactor of long ago. And Errol’s quite proud of his ‘fee.’
…
The article says that Speedie was bitten on the toe by a poisonous fish. What it likely meant is that he was bitten or injected by a venomous fish.
Venom is injected. Poison is ingested.
“Poisonous fish are fish that are poisonous to eat. They contain toxins which are not destroyed by the digestive systems of animals that eat the fish. Venomous fish also contain toxins, but do not necessarily cause poisoning if they are eaten, since the digestive system often destroys their venom.”
I believe the fish which “bit” (i.e. injected) venom into Joe’s toe may have been a Stonefish. They are prevalent in the waters off Papua New Guinea and are “the most dangerous venomous fish in the world.
They are the most venomous fish in the world. The attack can last as little as 0.015 seconds! When not chasing their prey, they move slowly. But they’re venom is speedy, more speedy than Speedie.
“Stonefish are venomous marine fish classified in the genus Synanceja and the family Synancejidae, found in shallow waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific. They are sluggish, bottom-dwelling fish that live among rocks or coral and in mud flats and estuaries. Thickset fish with large heads and mouths, small eyes, and bumpy skins covered with wart-like lumps and, sometimes, fleshy flaps, they rest on the bottom, unmoving, blending almost exactly with their surroundings in form and color. They are dangerous fish. Difficult to see, they can, when stepped on, inject quantities of venom through grooves in their dorsal-fin spines. Wounds produced by these fish are intensely painful and sometimes fatal.”
Watch your step! They can also live and attack on land for up to 24 hours!!
— Gentleman Tim
— Tim
Arno and Errol at Ta-Boo
21
Jun
At Ta-boo, an historic haunt of Errol’s on Palm Beach, I had the opportunity to memorialize our 111th Global Toast on one of their famous monkey images. Amazingly, autographing the image before me was “Arno”! …I have no idea who this Arno is, but I know it’s a name I’ve rarely ever known, maybe never other than for the Arno River in Florence and for Errol’s wonderful schnauzer. So, I’ll take this sign and signing as a sign Errol and Arno are still monkeying around together, and in all the best places.
From Ta-boo, it was off to 346 Seabreeze Avenue, the Palm Beach home Errol payed for, where Sean lived for much of his childhood with Lili. Toasted Sean there with a Coca-Cola – age-appropriate for young Sean’s time in PB.
— Tim
