October 28, 1942: The Errol Flynn Scandal

October 28, 1942: Actor Errol Flynn is accused of statutory rape by 2 17-year-old girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee.

Born in 1909 on theAustralian island of Tasmania, Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was the original "Tasmanian Devil." He was known as a "swashbuckler," starring in films like Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Prince and the Pauper, and in the title role of the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood, which has defined the legendary medieval Nottingham archer ever since.

But there's an old saying: Some men want to make love to anything that moves, but Flynn saw no reason to limit himself. Married to French actress Lili Damita, he also had affairs with German actress Marlene Dietrich (not surprising, she would sleep with just about anyone, too), and Mexican actresses (and arch-rivals) Lupe Vélez and Dolores del Rio. His womanizing was so pervasive that the expression "in like Flynn" became common.

Given that he was a heavy drinker, and a user of narcotics, it didn't surprise those who knew him, even if it did those who didn't know him, that he would one day be caught drugging and taking advantage of women. Finally, after being accused by Misses Hansen and Satterlee, he was indicted.

Shortly thereafter, Damita divorced him. She was the mother of his only known child, Sean Flynn. He became a journalist, who disappeared in Cambodia in 1970, investigating the recent U.S. incursion there. His son, also named Sean Flynn, went into the previous family business, becoming an actor.

Given the time period, it’s not surprising that Flynn had more defenders than the girls, including a group calling itself ABCDEF: The American Boys' Club for the Defense of Errol Flynn. William F. Buckley Jr., then 17 years old, was a member. (Given Buckley's 1968 thoughts on Gore Vidal, I wonder what he would have thought if he knew that Flynn liked boys, too.)

 

Flynn's lawyer, unsurprisingly, attacked the girls' character, and Flynn was acquitted on February 6, 1943. But his image never really recovered. When he was later accused of Nazi sympathies, there was little shock, despite the evidence being rather thin. He died in 1959, his boozing and drug use having wrecked his health. Soon thereafter, his autobiography was published, titled My Wicked, Wicked Ways. He was talked out of titling it In Like Me.

In 1985, Canadian actor Duncan Regehr starred in the TV-movie My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Australian actor Guy Pearce played him in the 1993 film Flynn, English actor Jude Law in the 2004 Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator, and American actor Kevin Kline in the 2013 film The Last Days of Robin Hood. Based on Flynn were the character played by Peter O'Toole (whose own lifestyle meant that he didn't have to do much research) in the 1982 film My Favorite Year (the year in question being 1954), and the one played by Timothy Dalton in the 1991 film The Rocketeer.

In 1986, the comedy Pirates was made as a tribute to Flynn and films like his. It was directed by Roman Polanski, who would also be accused of drugging and raping a teenage girl. Polanski had started it in America, but fled the country to avoid a 50-year prison sentence, and finished it in Europe. Show me who your heroes are, and I'll show you who you are.

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October 28, 1942 was a Wednesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't start for another 3 days. So there were no scores on this historic day.