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HOLY MORONI! — WHO ON EARTH WAS SHE!?!

19 Oct

Who on Earth was “Chancellor”, aka Mrs. Errol Flynn?

I have recently come across three Mormon “proxy marriage sealings” involving Errol – one to “Lili”, one to “Nora”, and one to “Chancellor”. Yes, that’s correct, “Chancellor”!!!

Who, you may ask, was Chancellor? The answer is simple: I have no idea!

According to official Mormon records of proxy marriage sealings (aka “celestial marriage”):

“Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (Errol Flynn), was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was sealed to an ex-wife, Liliane Marie-Madeleine Carré (Lili Damita) on October 3, 1996 in the Manti Utah Temple. On November 3, 2000 in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple, Flynn was sealed to an unknown spouse named “Chancellor”. Flynn was sealed to another ex-wife, Nora Eddington, on September 18, 2009 in the Boise Idaho Temple.”

So, it appears, according to official records of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Errol and Chancellor were sealed in eternal proxy marriage on November 3, 2000, at the Mormon Temple in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

…But why? And to whom?

Perhaps “Chancellor” could be a reference to Pat Wymore? Or, perhaps it could be a woman who had a child with Errol, perhaps the mother of James, or Shirley’s girl (Marilyn/Lynn)? “Following a celestial marriage, not only are the couple sealed as husband and wife, but children born into the marriage are also sealed to that family.”

Here’s a summary of the Mormons’ instructions/guidelines for “proxy marriage sealings”:

“The LDS Church has issued specific instructions to Church members regarding proxy marriage sealings. These guidelines state that only dead couples, who had established relationships while they were living, are to be sealed as spouses in Mormon temples.”

“A deceased man may have sealed to him all deceased women to whom he was legally married during his life. A deceased woman may be sealed to all men to whom she was legally married during her life. However, if she was sealed to a husband during her life, all her husbands must be deceased before she may be sealed to a husband to whom she was not sealed to during life. Deceased couples who were divorced may be sealed. This may provide the only way for their children to be sealed…A deceased couple who lived together as husband and wife may be sealed, even if the marriage cannot be documented.”

A description by a former performer of celestial marriage ceremonies:

“MUCH SECRECY SURROUNDS THE SACRAMENTS THAT take place in the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For Mormons—whose numbers can be difficult to quantify—the temple is the center of family and community life. It is also where ”eternal marriages” take place.”

“Known within the Church as “sealing,” eternal marriages bind a couple together forever. As in, forever—beyond mortality. In fact, sealings can be performed on people who have already died, to ensure they are eligible for entry into the highest echelons of Mormon heaven. Posthumous sealing—in which a deceased person is wedded to either another deceased person or one who is still alive—is performed regularly within the Church, but the details of the ceremony are not usually disclosed to people outside the faith.”

“Mormons believe there’s various degrees of heaven. In order to gain entrance to the highest one, where you get to be a god and create your own worlds, you have to have received certain ordinances. They call them “keys.” And one of those is being married. So people who have died and never had the chance to get sealed—that’s what Mormons call getting married in the temple—can have it posthumously done for them. And that’s the point of going to the temple and doing sealings.”

“Faithful Latter Day Saints believe civil marriages are dissolved at death, but that a couple who has been sealed in a temple will be married beyond physical death and the resurrection if they remain faithful. This means that in the afterlife they and their family will be together forever. An illustrative difference in the marriage ceremony performed in LDS temples is the replacement of the words “until death do us part” with “for time and all eternity”.”

Any ideas or input, Flynnmates!?

— Tim

 
4 Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Friends & Family, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, Wives

 

Errol Flynn as Nathan Hale*

08 Oct

I only regret that he had but one show on Hale to leave, and it was not on film.

More of the amazing talent in Errol’s orbit and world:

October 10, 1941

Zuma Palmer
Hollywood Citizen News

Errol Flynn on the Kate Smith Hour from KNX at 9 will play the part of Nathan Hale in “Heritage,” an original drama by Jean Holloway. Johnny Burke as “The Original Draftee” and the Three Pitchmen will be other features. Miss Smith will close her program with “We’re All Americans.”

JOHNNY BURKE – One of the greatest writers of popular song lyrics in history. (With a later, second Flynn connection through the song for Nora, “But Beautiful”.)


bingfan03.blogspot.com…

THE THREE PITCHMEN – A Popular Novelty Musical Trio

KATE SMITH – Closed her show with Flynn with the crowd-rousing “WE’RE ALL AMERICANS”

Here’s one of great Kate’s contemporaneous versions of We’re All Americans (All True Blue), followed by three other spectacular songs that were “sang in the name of victory” for WWII.

* Not to be confused with Alan Hale

— Tim

 
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Posted in Audio, Behind the Scenes, Co-Stars, Flynn as..., Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines

 

Tiger Lil‘ and Cat Man

23 Sep

Dear fellow Flynn fans,

of all the tin roofs in Beverly Hills, none was hotter than Tiger Lil`s…

Cat Man went by many names- he was called by authorities “The Phantom of Bel Air”, “The Jersey Devil” and Willard Borton by birth certificate. Born and raised in Gloucester City, NJ, he adopted a what-you-see-is-what-you-get philosophy at an early age. TRUE DETECTIVE ran his CV in on of their issues as follows. “If another youngster had a toy he coveted, he appropriated it for his own. Occasionally these tactics got him into difficulty and it was no unusual thing for him to be called on the carpet to explain a black eye or a bloody nose incurred in a fight with some wrathful playmate.”

Various stunts (he once used a swordfish gaff to open a second floor window) led to various stints in reformatories. While in juvenile jail he behaved impeccably. His overall charming behaviour made sure he got released early every time he did time. Maybe it was the breath of fresh air that brought out that feline feeling again.

Arriving in Tinseltown with a wife and stepson in tow in December of 1934, he rented a bungalow under the name of Ralph Graham on formidable Formosa Street and put up a respectable front. At daytime he took the “See the movie stars` homes for 25 cents”- Tour.  “I`ll see them”, said Graham to himself, “and from the inside, too.” At nighttime he was prowling the perimeters of the rich and famous, the bold and the bejeweled. Hiding behind the heavy shrubbery of their vaulted villas, he could go on with his burglaries unnoticed.

Flynntimates Miriam Hopkins, Fred MacMurray and Fannie Bryce were amongst the many victims of Will the Cat. From Gary Cooper he took an unregistered colt and further on used it for protection. At Barbara Stanwyck`s place in exchange for furs and pearls he left the cryptic message K.P.G.G.L.X, meaning: Keep plugging good girl. Love & kisses. He snatched a gold cigarette lighter bearing the initials C.L. from Gable`s girl, while Tyrone Power yearned to get back the golden cross of the Order of the Knights of St. Louis, which had been in the Powers family for generations. Feisty swashbucklerette (www.theerrolflynnblog.com…) Maureen O`Sullivan almost caught the cat red handed and alarmed the police about an intruder. When confronted by policemen he was able to talk his alleyway out, swearing he was a privat patrolman and had seen the burgler vanish in the opposite direction!

In July of 1938 he entered the home of renowned film director Frank Capra- ininvited. Unfortunately for him he ended up in the nursery of the family`s newborn baby who immediately turned on the siren. Nevertheless he managed another dashing escape. Afterwards he somehow felt he had overstayed his welcome in this prominent hood of Hollywood. So he relocated and bought a small house on 420 Howland Canal in Venice complete with boat. The furniture came courtesy of laundry magnate George M. Theodore. Never mind that his front door had to be cut out to give way to the grand piano…

Robbing the rich was not his first priority, he also gave back to the not so poor. Always the gentlemanly thief he first took off the engagement ring of another victim, only to give it back to her once he found nothing else to his liking at her home. “Is that really the only diamond you have?” “Truly it is.” “Well, there`s nothing here I want, here`s your ring.”

The then hot silent film diva Lili Damita also fell prey to the Cat. He stole all of her jewelery, escaping unscathed only because the Flynn bride to be hadn`t been at home at the time. Police was at a loss how sixty to seventy burgleries hadn`t delivered the tinniest trace of Jumpy Cat. $32.000 worth of riches were taken from a prominent motion picture executive. A multi millionaire with a household name donated $ 1.800.000 in stocks and bonds (fortunately for that Mr. DeMillions they were non negotiable). At Sonja Heine`s home CM had to contend himself with cans of Norwegian fish.

What California`s cobblestone cops didn`t know, was that, despite the Cat`s prowess, his effort had netted him only a few thousand dollars. A Hollywood Boulevard pawnshop owner named Morris Wasserman flew back and forth to New York with excessive baggage and had the loot remodeled. Mo` dinned on brilliants, but fed the Cat breadcrumbs. Fed up with coming up short time and time again a frustrated Catso confessed everything when questioned for a minor misdemeanor. Wasserman was put on probation, while Willard forever sang the Folsom Prison Blues.

Lili meanwhile adorned herself with Errol.

Enjoy,

 

— shangheinz

 
17 Comments

Posted in Flynn and..., Flynn-related, Main Page, Shangheinz Shanties

 

Sean on the Island of the Coconut Monk

10 Sep

Per’The World According to Roger Steffens’:

Where is the most interesting place you’ve visited?

“The Island of the Coconut Monk. I went there for the first time in January of 1969 with John Steinbeck IV and Sean Flynn, Errol Flynn’s son. It was basically a mile-long sand bar in the middle of the Mekong River inhabited by thousands of drop outs from the war, led by a 4 and a half-foot hunchback monk who hadn’t lain down in the previous 20 years. Anyone who came to his island without a weapon was welcomed, no questions asked. They had deserters from the North Vietnamese communist forces, the South Vietnamese army, and daoists. They prayed to Christ, Buddha, Mohammad, Lao Tze, Confucius, Sun Yat-sen, Victor Hugo and Winston Churchill. The North bank of the river was controlled by the Americans and the South bank by the communists, and they’d fire rockets and mortars over the island, but never touch the island. It’s the only place in Vietnam that I saw happy people. It was there that I met my first wife.”

Per “The Coconut Monk” by John Steinbeck IV:

“I was happy here. Perhaps happier than I had ever been in my life. The island became my refuge for the next five years.”

——————– Roger Steffens, John Steinbeck IV, Crystal Eastin and Sean Flynn

— Tim

 
2 Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, New Articles, Sean Flynn

 

Mail Bag! A few Words from TJR McDowell!

26 Aug

Got this nice message from TJR McDowell:

Sean Flynn with Errol …

David: I spent some time today looking over your Flynn Blog. It really is extraordinary, the best blog on the internet. I’ve been fortunate enough to be allowed to post a few things about Flynn, and it’s been very gratifying. Flynn has popped up in my life at the oddest times.

I went to a school named Lawrenceville in NJ, and my math teacher, Mr. Parks, an old fossil but nice guy, occasionally would talk about Sean Flynn who he’d also taught at Lawrenceville. Errol visited once on parents day, and Mr. Parks met him and said he was friendly and proud of Sean. We were asked to pray for Sean at chapel (this was in 1972, my 8th grade year), as I think it was his birthday, and he was still missing in Cambodia.

I know a guy from Sean’s class who said Sean was a nice low key guy, who struggled (like everyone there) in class, but excelled on the swim team..I knew another fellow in London name Colin Crewe who told me he spent a day with Errol in the late 1950’s when he worked for Lloyds of London and was insuring Errol for a film and assigned to tag along with him for a day, and that Flynn wore this beautiful blue wool suit and Colin went out the next day and bought one.

Then there was Robin Moore whom I knew slightly, wrote French Connection, and he told me about hanging out with Flynn in Jamaica, teasing the native dogs and hitting on the native women, and how Flynn once fought with a young Chris Blackwell, the record magnate, whose family lived in Jamaica. Then there was an in depth article I wrote for Premiere Magazine all about the Garden of Allah, and there were sundry Flynn stories here; I interviewed everyone from Hal Roach to Cesar Romero to Billy Wilder to Glen Ford who had me over and we talked for hours and he thought Flynn was a man’s man but basically a sad guy.

Lastly, I once interviewed Charles Higham, who wrote the untold story, the weirdest most dysfunctional misanthropic con man I’ve ever spoken with, a sick guy who was into exploiting everyone to make a living; his book was sheer invention calculated to get on best seller lists everywhere, which it did.

That’s my two cents!

All best, Rider

Thanks, TJR …

— David DeWitt

 
3 Comments

Posted in Mail Bag

 

Welcome to Sherwood Lake

24 Aug

August 25, 1936

Harrison Carroll
Evening Herald Express

… Who comes closest to being the movie hero in real life? probably Errol Flynn. He was a good enough boxer to represent Ireland in the Olympics, his tennis is brilliant, and he is a fine swimmer. When Green Light was on location at Sherwood the other day, the troupe shot morning scenes on one side of the lake and afternoon scenes on the other. The rest of the troupe drove around in cars, but to Flynn, a straight line was the shortest distance between two points, so he swam the lake.

HISTORY OF THE LAKE
(Quoting Multiple Sources)

For many centuries, Lake Sherwood and the vast majority of Conejo Valley as a whole was inhabited by communities of Chumash Indians. This remained the case until the arrival of Spanish expeditions to much of California in the late years of the 18th century. At this point, Lake Sherwood and a substantial portion of the surrounding area was named Potrero Valley until California became the 31st state in 1850. Once this occurred, the land of Potrero Valley was sold and would eventually switch hands several times over the next 75 years, mainly to ranch owners and agricultural businesses. It wasn’t until the early 1920’s that the area now known as Lake Sherwood began to rise in popularity among residents of California, due mostly to the land being transformed into Sherwood Forest for the creation of the popular “Robin Hood” film that was helmed by legendary director Douglas Fairbanks. The 1938 film, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn, also had a scene shot on location at “Sherwood Forest. (The attack on the treasure caravan scene.)

“These days everyone knows that Lake Sherwood homes are some of the most gorgeous in the Ventura County region. This small, upscale neighborhood is home to just over 1,000 of some of the wealthiest individuals in the country including David Murdock, owner of the Dole company. His estate spawns over 2,000 acres of land on a hill top. Prime Lake Sherwood real estate isn’t just for the typical rising stars in business either. This wealthy town has been home to countless celebrities and to this date attracts Hollywood stars like actor Jamie Foxx who follows fellow actors Sylvester Stallone, Sophia Loren, Tom Selleck and a caravan of other tinsel town elite in owning Lake Sherwood real estate. With such a rich history in wealth it might be hard to picture a Lake Sherwood without pomp and circumstance. But according to former locals of the area, there actually was a time when Lake Sherwood was just a really nice lake.

The story is that Lake Sherwood’s history goes back further than the 1922 Robin Hood movie accredited for giving it fame. It seems the neighborhood had rather tough beginnings in trying to solidify itself as a place where the rich call home. According to historian Miriam Sprinkling, the lake was formed when a rancher known as S.W. Matthiesson, who owned much of what is now Lake Sherwood and Hidden Valley, built a dam across four streams. Matthiesson had hoped the land would become a summer getaway for the wealthy to hunt and fish. However, this idea never caught on. It was Matthiesson’s son who eventually gave the okay for filming the Robin Hood movie years later in Lake Sherwood. The cabin in which Douglas Fairbanks was housed during filming is now a registered Ventura County historical landmark and the crest of The Sherwood Country Club proudly depicts Robin Hood.

Unfortunately, after the film was produced Matthieson’s son lost ownership of the lake to his wife during a divorce settlement (that doesn’t sound too gentry at all) and Mrs. Matthieson and her new husband Mr. Canterbury, decided to change the lake’s name to “Lake Canterbury”. Luckily, the name just never stuck. The two decided to begin a housing development project in the area and the real estate firm hired again changed the name to “Los Touras” by combining Los Angeles + Ventura. At this time, Potrero Valley was renamed Hidden Valley. So, what is exactly in a name, you ask? Millions. Until there’s a stock market crash. And in 1929 that’s exactly what ruined the Canterbury’s plans as they were forced to sell their property to none other than tycoon William Randolph Hearst. After the filming of Robin Hood by Fairbanks it was renamed Lake Sherwood.

— Tim

 
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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Films, Gentleman Tim, Newspaper & Headlines

 

Errol’s Affliction

23 Aug

Reached a sad conclusion recently after re-reading Earl Conrad’s ‘Errol Flynn – A Memoir.’ Almost hate to share it but here goes. I’d read the book 30 years ago as a young man and was fascinated by its behind the scenes look at the writing of My Wicked Wicked Ways, on which Earl Conrad collaborated with Errol the year before his death. More than any other source, it presents the true picture of Flynn, his genius for living, his many flaws, his peccadillos and quirks. Whereas ‘My Wicked…Ways’ was rousing and fascinating and wonderfully written, equal parts fact and fiction, the Conrad memoir really lays it out.

Fast forward 35 years during which time one of my avocations has been the study of psychopathy as well as  a concomitant ten year career as an investigative reporter. Re-reading Conrad’s memoir last week, it was perfectly clear that poor Errol was a  psychopath. There is no question. His behavior as described by Conrad is textbook, and would rank Errol high on the Hare Checklist, the accepted litmus test for diagnosing this condition. This is not to belittle Errol’s many talents and unique presence, but he was indeed a psychopath, an affliction that one is born with. There may be an inherited component, the jury is still out on this; it may stem from an under developed amygdala, a small gland in the brain that contributes to the development of one’s conscience and the ability to control one’s impulses. But Errol was one, in my opinion.

In some ways, believing this, makes me empathize with him (Flynn). One of the saddest observations made by Conrad in his book (beside the sheer sense of wanton self destruction exhibited by Errol) was that Errol was virtually friendless. This Conrad finds shocking, as I did, and Conrad liked Flynn and seems like a thoughtful and honest writer, so I believe him. Conrad observed that Flynn had countless fans and wannabe hangers-on and constant solicitations to invest in things or lend his name to organizations, but virtually no friends.

I know my observations are going to upset many Flynn fans. And these same observations don’t diminish Flynn the often brilliant actor, but at least for me, they explain a lot. I remember reading Conrad’s memoir for the first time in 1984 when I was an aspiring writer working at Omni magazine in NY. I was so taken with it that I contacted Mrs Conrad through her husband’s publisher -Earl had recently died- and as it happened she was visiting NYC. We met at the old Madison Pub on Madison Ave in the 80’s, and talked about Earl and Errol and I was pitching the idea of making a movie about the experience of writing the book. I remember how much she’d like Errol the few times they met, and recounted one story about having once owned a photo of Errol urinating on the side of the road in Cuba! I remember she was recovering from pneumonia and wanted to catch a cab to her hotel downtown, and so to save her money (since Madison headed uptown) I walked her through a snowstorm around the block to Lexington Ave so she could travel south (?) with the traffic. Which damn near killed her.

 

 

— TJR McDowell

 
7 Comments

Posted in Behind the Scenes

 

A Top Piece on Errol’s Top-Piece

22 Aug

PAPUA NEW GUINEA – 1996/01/01: New Guinea Highlands, Near Tari, Huli Dancers With Ceremonial Wigs, Bird Of Paradise Feathers. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)

August 21, 1937

WHAT THEY DO FOR INSOMNIA
Evening Herald Express

“Errol Flynn, old boy, tell us what you do for insomnia?”

After Errol had exploded and used a little language we convinced him we really meant exactly what we said, and he was surprised to find he did have an insomnia cure. Seemed it rarely is needed, but when it is he remembers a long tiresome trek he took in New Guinea one time, afraid to sleep because the local head-hunters seemed determined to add the handsome Flynn top-piece to their collection. Said Errol:

“It’s like counting sheep, only I count head-hunters.”

…

Headhunting History in New Guinea:

Headhunting was practised by many Austronesian people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Headhunting has at one time or another been practised among most of the peoples of Melanesia,including New Guinea. A missionary found 10,000 skulls in a community longhouse on Goaribari Island in 1901.

Historically, the Marind-anim in New Guinea were famed because of their headhunting. The practice was rooted in their belief system and linked to the name-giving of the newborn. The skull was believed to contain a mana-like force. Headhunting was not motivated primarily by cannibalism, but the dead person’s flesh was consumed in ceremonies following the capture and killing.

The Korowai, a Papuan tribe in the southeast of Irian Jaya, live in tree houses, some nearly 40 metres high. This is believed to be a defensive practice, presumably as protection against the Citak, a tribe of neighbouring headhunters. Some researchers believe that the American Michael Rockefeller, who disappeared in New Guinea in 1961 while on a field trip, may have been taken by headhunters in the Asmat region. He was the son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

nypost-com.cdn.ampproject.org…

— Tim

 
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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Guinea, Newspaper & Headlines, Travels

 

Yachts race 17 mile course during McNish Classic

29 Jul

Saw this item on Google www.keyt.com… and it says that the yacht “Cheerio” once belonged to Errol.
Can any one confirm this and if so what name did it have under Errold ownership?

— tassie devil

 
2 Comments

Posted in Main Page

 

The Gentleman from New Guinea

13 Jul

His name is Errol Flynn and into his twenty-six years he has crowded enough experience to satisfy a dozen men. While other actors played at life in stock company repertoire, he has been living it, with dauntless gaiety. Prospecting for gold in New Guinea,being ambushed by natives,negotiating peace between savage tribes, captaining a pearl-diving crew and a copra-trading ship, receiving plaudits as an Olympic athlete – all these activities have just been preparation for the greatest adventure of all, Hollywood.

Adventurer by instinct, he is now actor by accident, he says. However, having “happened into the movies” because of their call to his dramatic sense, and because he “hadn’t yet done them,” he finds them such a challenge that he feels he must make good, in order to prove himself to himself.

Lean and brown, gay and glamorous, no more engaging personality could be found to portray the reckless Captain Peter Blood in the Sabatini tale which records the exploits of a young Irish doctor, who is sold into slavery and turns pirate.

Flynn inherited his craving for excitement from his active ancestors. He is fighting his duels in “Captain Blood” with his historic family sword, which was presented to Lord Terrence Flynn by a loyal follower of the Duke of Monmouth in 1686, the period in which the film is set.

As a boy, Errol made sporadic attempts, invariably failures, to live up to the dignity of his scholarly surroundings. His father was a professor of biology at Cambridge. When Errol wasn’t reading adventure stories, or playing games, he cast fleeting glances at his books, in English and French schools.

Fame as a boxer, which he won at nineteen at the Amsterdam Olympics, failed to satisfy his budding, restless vitality. Probably swaggering a bit in his strong, young manhood, he went to New Guinea where, as British Agent, he was sent out to make peace between native tribes. Learning their dialiects was not difficult, because they have few words and no tenses.

“I would point to objects and try to copy their grunts or shrill exclamations. After a time we would get together, more or less. Maybe,” his smile flashed, “that was where I got my training as an actor. I should be in pantomime, what?”

Silver Screen Magazine, January 1936

— Tim

 
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Posted in Author Errol Flynn, Behind the Scenes, Gentleman Tim, Main Page, New Guinea, Newspapers & Magazines, Ships & the Sea, Sirocco, The Early Errol, Travels

 
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