“NASA Sees Remnants of A Once-Swashbuckling Cyclone Errol in So. Indian Ocean”
“Unlike the famous Hollywood actor of days gone by the remnants of cyclone Errol are no longer making a lot of noise in the Southern Indian Ocean. In fact, NASA satellite data reveals that wind shear has taken its toll on the center of the storm’s circulation, despite some improved convection.”
“Errol Flynn was an actor in the 1930s and 40s known for his swashbuckling film roles in movies like Captain Blood and Robin Hood. Cyclone Errol was known for its rains and wind in northern Western Australia and then in Indonesia’s West Timor.”
Eighty years ago this week, Errol was in Jamaica during the hard-hitting “no (official) name” Hurricane of 1947 that hit Southeast Florida. It’s path through the Caribbean and into Miami was similar to Irma’s so far, though, objectively, Irma may prove even more irksome.
On arrival in Miami – on his way to film Don Juan – newspapers published the following report and photo:
“Errol Flynn and his wife, Nora, are pictured on their arrival here by plane from Jamaica. Their flight course closely paralleled the course of the hurricane. ‘Shocking and sad, ‘ Flynn said of storm-wrecked Miami.” Flynn and wife are shown on the stairs of an airplane.”
John L. Sullivan v. Gentleman Jim Corbett www.thesweetscience.com…
(See the last three paragraphs for the Flynn connection)
And listen to Liam Neeson’s introduction of (Errol) “one of the ultimate matinee idols” playing (Gentleman Jim) “one of the first matinee idols.” (at 1:09:54 through 1:12)
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:
“[Carl] Hubbs arrived in La Jolla in 1944, when Scripps was a ghost town because so many people had left to help with the war effort. There wasn’t a lot of money to collect or study fish.
But opportunities arose, and one of them came from an unexpected source: Actor Errol Flynn.
In 1946, Flynn notified Scripps that he planned to sail his schooner from San Diego to Acapulco and that he was willing to take a scientist with him. Hubbs quickly stepped forward and ended up collecting a great number of specimens.”
“Mr Cooper is a survivor of the infamous Marques disaster that left 19 drowned in 1984.”
“Speaking to the Times, Mr Cooper, a veteran ocean sailor who once captained a ship for Hollywood film star Errol Flynn, continued: ‘We realised the boat was not sinking and that the best place to be was on board. We sat it out until the waves pushed us far enough onto the reef to be away from the breakers.”
[I believe this is likely a misstatement by the Daily Mail, not by Mr. Cooper, who likely said he was captain for one of Errol’s (former) ships, not for Errol himself.]
All Flynn followers are familiar with the brief appearance of Errol and Lily in Pirate Party on Catalina Island, but there was always a little confusion about when this quiet little short subject appeared. To help quell any more questions, here is a clip from the Los Angeles Times newspaper of Feb. 12, 1936, page 11.
It premiered with the Charlie Chaplin film Modern Times.
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.”
