Born on June 20, 1909, in Battery Point, Tasmania, Australia, Errol Flynn was an Australian-American actor. An icon from the Golden Age of Hollywood known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, Flynn lived incomparably. He resided in his native Australia, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.
Before becoming an actor, he attended private schools and worked as a junior shipping clerk, tobacco plantation overseer, and gold miner.
In his private life, Flynn gained a reputation for womanizing and hedonism. He was romantically linked to Lupe Vélez, Marlene Dietrich, Dolores del Ríoand, and, when he was 50, the 17-year-old Beverly Aadland, among countless others. Flynn married three times to Lili Damita, Nora Eddington, and Patrice Wymore. His relationships resulted in four children.
As per IMDb, his most famous movie credits include Captain Blood (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prince and the Pauper (1937), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Dodge City (1939), Santa Fe Trail (1940), Virginia City (1940), and San Antonio (1945).
Flynn received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Feb. 8, 1960 (according to WalkofFame.com).
Sadly, on Oct. 14, 1959, he died at just 50. But what happened?
How did Errol Flynn die?
In Flynn’s later days, he lost his typically handsome image, put on weight, and appeared considerably older than he was. He suffered from cirrhosis, recurrent malaria, an intestinal infection, chronic back pain, and two heart attacks.
On the day of his death, he was in Vancouver, British Columbia, negotiating the lease of his yacht Zaca to a businessman as he attempted to ease financial concerns. Flynn complained of severe back and leg pain and visited doctor Grant Gould, who assumed the cause was degenerative disc disease and spinal osteoarthritis. Gould intravenously administered 50 milligrams of Demerol and performed a leg massage on Flynn, who reminisced about his extraordinary life and claimed he was feeling “ever so much better.”
20 minutes later, his much younger girlfriend, Beverly Aadland, checked on him and found him unresponsive. He was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital but didn’t regain consciousness and was pronounced dead. The cause was listed as myocardial infarction due to coronary thrombosis and coronary atherosclerosis. Fatty degeneration and partial cirrhosis of the liver were deemed significant enough to be listed as contributing factors (as per his autopsy report at Scribd).
May Flynn rest in peace.