Doris Duke
Ralph Bellamy
John Garfield
Warren William
Louis Hayworth
Hermann Erben
Freddie McEvoy
King Farouk
Orson Welles
Fidel Castro
Howard Hughes
Rex Long-Innes
Barbara Stanwyck
Talullah Bankhead
Generalisimo Francisco Franco
— Tim
Legend has it Errol was “blown off course” by a hurricane in 1946, causing him to dock The Zaca in Jamaica, leading him to discover and soon move to Port Antonio. If this is true, which hurricane was it? Officially, per the charts below, there were seven Atlantic Ocean hurricanes in ’46. By my calculations, it appears No. 7 would have been most likely. Earlier that year, during all the other official hurricanes that could have forced Errol into Jamaica (except possibly “extratropical” No. 6), it appears to me that Zaca was exclusively in the Pacific – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexican islands & waters (filming Cruise of The Zaca), Acapulco (filming Lady from Shanghai), et al. Anyone out there know for sure? If any of this is not accurate, please let us all know!
Here’s a Jamaican-written history:
“1946: Actor Errol Flynn’s schooner Zaca docks in Kingston for repairs, Flynn discovers Port Antonio and then sails there, beginning his lifelong love affair with the area and reviving Porty as a secluded destination for the rich and famous.
Christopher Columbus arrived in Jamaica in 1494 and claimed it for Spain. He liked the island so much he returned four times. In 1655 the British took control, turning it into a colony. It was Errol Flynn, however, who really turned the international spotlight toward Port Antonio. The swashbuckling actor was a social swashbuckler in real life, and to this day the people of Porty love to tell tales about Flynn – many of them taller than the Blue Mountains.
No doubt, the hard-living, high-sporting Flynn enjoyed women, drinking, gambling, sailing, fishing and being a prankster. He was dead serious, however, about his love of Port Antonio and its prospects. Flynn’s very presence in Port Antonio in the 1950s helped attract celebrities and international attention.”
— Tim
I think it would be great to collect and publish names of Zaca crew members since the days of the legendary schooner’s first launch in Sausalito nearly ninety years ago.
It’s been reported that Templeton Crocker’s Zaca had up to eighteen crew members, including on his circumnavigation of the world, and his legendary scientific expeditions. This included his personal valet, a doctor, and a photographer. From photos, it appears the Navy appears to have had that amount or even more crew.
The number of crew on Zaca when Errol sailed her appears to have varied.
Nail polish millionaire, Freddie Tinsley, certainly must have had some crew at times, mostly only a skeletal crew for dockside entertainment. It’s unclear, however, how often he actually sailed The Zaca.
I am not certain if Joseph Rosenberg, Bernard Voisin or Phillip Coussins ever actually sailed Zaca.
Today’s Zaca – majestically restored and cared for by its current owner, Robert Memmo – has been said to day cruise out of Monaco with as few as four in its crew.
For the historical record, can anyone help name members of these various crews?
(Ahoy San Francisco Bay Area Marine Historians, Wallace Berry, WWII Navy Alumni Associations, Port Antonians, Bonny Cother, and Palma de Majorcans!!!)
1929 – 1942 – Templeton Crocker, San Francisco
1942 – 1945 – U.S. Navy – renamed “USS Zaca” “IX-73”, San Francisco
1945 – 1945 – War Shipping Administration
1945 – 1946 – Joseph Rosenberg, San Francisco
1946 – 1959 – Errol Flynn, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Mediterranean
1959 – 1965 – Freddie Tinsley, Palma de Mallorca to Villefranche Su Mer
1965 – 1990 – Bernard Voisin, Villefranche Su Mer
1990 – 1990 – Phillip Coussins, Villafranche Su Mer
1990 – 2017 – Robert Memmo, Monaco
LE “ZACA” DANS LE PORT DE FONTVIEILLE, MONACO.
Some of the crews can be seen in the videos below:
— Tim
A Salute to Elvis on the Fortieth Anniversary of His Passing.
Hal Wallis had seen one of Elvis Presley’s appearances on the Dorsey Brothers Show, and before the performance was even over, he was making calls, trying to get Presley to come to Hollywood for a screen test. Wallis remembers his first impressions of Presley in his autobiography Starmaker:
“A test was necessary to determine if Elvis could act. I selected a scene for him to do with that very fine actor Frank Faylen. Elvis would play a young man just starting out in life and Faylen would play his father, holding him back. It was a difficult dramatic scene for an amateur. But I had to be sure. When I ran the test I felt the same thrill I experienced when I first saw Errol Flynn on the screen. Elvis, in a very different, modern way, had exactly the same power, virility, and sex drive. The camera caressed him.”
— Tim
He made Errol’s Robin Hood leather boots, and lent his horse Don to Errol for “Boots”. He was Bob Brown. Norman Rockwell declared him “The Leonardo of Leather”.
“Bob Brown’s first job was to create the tunic, belt, shoes and cap for Errol Flynn in The Adventures of Robin Hood. Other famous owners of Bob’s work are John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Lash Larue, Sunset Carson, Hopalong Cassidy, Tex Williams and many many more. There is a story saying that Bob Brown was the one who taught John Wayne his famous walk.”
— Tim
Errol once had a employee who typed for him, made (a lot of) tea for him, and helped him run a business across from Warner Bros. Who was he or she?
His or her employment started prior to and ended during WWII.
He or she worked for Uncle Sam both before and after working for Errol.
His or her first name and last name are among those listed below:
FIRST NAME
Gordita
Junior
Max
Minnie
Shorty
Slim
Stretch
LAST NAME
Avalon
Berkeley
Carmel
Fresno
La Jolla
Monterey
Ventura
— Tim
Was this mega-talented beauty Errol’s first girlfriend in LA LA Land? This is who he was often seen with during his early bachelor days in the U.S. Both he and Jack Warner say so in their autobiographies. Who was she and do you think there was any romance or hanky panky between the two?
— Tim
Magnificent, Flynn! Magnificent!
What other non-singing, non-dancing star but Errol could have pulled off anything as clever and fun as this? It’s no wonder he was so phenomenally popular.
— Tim
