Errol Flynn Biography: Movies, Marriages, Death, and Children
Few Hollywood stars packed as much living into fifty years as Errol Flynn. He made piracy look charming in The Adventures of Robin Hood, yet behind the sword fights were three marriages, two children, hard living, a fatal heart attack in Vancouver in October 1959 — and a son who never came home from Cambodia.
Born: June 20, 1909 · Died: October 14, 1959 · Age at death: 50 · Number of films: Over 50 · Marriages: 3 · Children: 2
Quick snapshot
- Born in Hobart, Tasmania, on June 20, 1909; died in Vancouver on October 14, 1959 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Made more than 50 films; The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) remained the defining role (Wikipedia filmography summary)
- Married three times; father of Sean Flynn and Deirdre Flynn (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- How much syphilis contributed to the heart attack that killed him at 50 (Wikipedia biography summary) (Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- Who, if anyone, deserves the “true love” title — biographers differ (Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- How the estate was divided after the widow’s share (Encyclopedia.com biography archive) (Encyclopaedia Britannica biography)
- 1933 — First film, In the Wake of the Bounty (Apple TV film listing)
- 1935 — Hollywood breakthrough in Captain Blood; 1938 — The Adventures of Robin Hood turned him into a legend (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- 1959 — Died in Vancouver at 50; 1970 — son Sean disappeared in Cambodia (Wikipedia biography of Sean Flynn)
- Deirdre Flynn remains the only surviving direct descendant as of 2025 (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- His filmography keeps circulating on streaming platforms (Apple TV film listing)
- Sean’s case continues to interest biographers and true-crime researchers (Wikipedia biography summary)
The pattern: even the card layout sorts Flynn’s life into what is proven, what is argued, and what is still missing.
Errol Flynn at a glance
Seven lines, one pattern: the public record is tidy, the private life was not.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn |
| Born | June 20, 1909, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Died | October 14, 1959, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouses | Lili Damita, Nora Eddington, Patrice Wymore |
| Children | Sean Flynn, Deirdre Flynn |
| Nationality | Australian-American |
The pattern: the official details were neat; the lived reality was not.
Who inherited Errol Flynn’s estate?
The short answer is direct: his widow, Patrice Wymore, inherited the estate (Encyclopedia.com biography archive). Flynn had two children, Sean and Deirdre, but the will centered on Wymore as the main beneficiary.
Does Errol Flynn have any living children?
- Deirdre Flynn — the only surviving child as of 2025 (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- Sean Flynn — disappeared in 1970 and declared legally dead in 1984 (Wikipedia biography of Sean Flynn)
So the direct answer is one. Deirdre carries the Flynn name today; Sean’s branch ended in Cambodia in 1970 (Wikipedia biography summary).
The pattern: a global surname with a very small family tree — one son missing, one daughter left to manage the legacy.
What happened to Errol Flynn’s son Sean?
Sean Flynn did not follow his father into acting. He became a photojournalist covering the Vietnam War, and in 1970 he disappeared while on assignment in Cambodia; the exact circumstances were never established, according to the Wikipedia biography summary.
A famous Hollywood surname, a photographer’s camera, and a disappearance with no body and no final report: Sean’s case is why the Flynn story never quite closes.
In 1984, Sean was declared legally dead (Wikipedia biography summary). The searches turned up no conclusive trace, and his fate remains a matter of record but not of resolution.
The implication: the Flynn line narrowed by half in one generation, and the mystery around Sean gave the family name a second act that no studio could have scripted.
What movies has Errol Flynn been in?
More than 50 films carry Flynn’s name. The crucial run came between 1935 and 1942, when he defined the Hollywood action hero (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
- 1933 — In the Wake of the Bounty, playing Fletcher Christian (Apple TV film listing)
- 1935 — The Case of the Curious Bride, a small Hollywood debut; then Captain Blood, his first Hollywood leading role (Wikipedia filmography summary)
- 1936 — The Charge of the Light Brigade (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- 1938 — The Adventures of Robin Hood, the title role and his signature film (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- 1939–1940 — Dodge City, The Sea Hawk, and Santa Fe Trail (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- 1941–1953 — They Died with Their Boots On, Desperate Journey, Objective, Burma!, Adventures of Don Juan (1948), Kim (1950), Against All Flags (1952), and The Master of Ballantrae (1953) (Apple TV film listing)
Two collaborations carried much of that run. Captain Blood paired Flynn with Olivia de Havilland under director Michael Curtiz (Encyclopedia.com biography archive); Curtiz would direct twelve of his films, and de Havilland appeared alongside him in eight (Wikipedia filmography summary). By the mid-1950s he had also moved into television with The Errol Flynn Theatre and Playhouse 90 (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Flynn’s Robin Hood was not just a box-office hit. The American Film Institute later ranked the character the 18th-greatest hero in American film history, according to the Wikipedia biography summary.
For another classic-era screen biography, see our profile of Dirk Bogarde, whose path through film took a very different route.
Why this matters: the swashbuckler label stuck so completely that Flynn’s later dramatic and comedy work rarely got a fair hearing — a trade-off Warner Bros. happily banked.
Did Errol Flynn marry?
Yes, three times. Each marriage mapped to a different era of his career and his public image (Wikipedia biography summary).
- Lili Damita (1935–1942) — his first wife; the most turbulent of the three marriages.
- Nora Eddington (1943–1949) — his second wife, married during the war years.
- Patrice Wymore (1950–1959) — his third wife and widow; the marriage ended only with his death.
The marriage years are part of the standard biographical record (Wikipedia biography summary).
Who was Errol Flynn’s true love?
Ask five Flynn fans who his true love was and you will get five answers. The record points most often to Lili Damita, his first wife — the same woman he fought with publicly for years.
Biographical accounts keep returning to Damita. They married in 1935, divorced in 1942, and the relationship stayed tangled long after the papers were signed (Wikipedia biography summary). Whether that makes her the “true love” is a question of interpretation, not a settled fact.
The pattern: the most passionate relationship in Flynn’s life was also the most public, which is why the question keeps coming up.
Where was Errol Flynn when he died?
Flynn died in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 14, 1959, at age 50, with his wife, Patrice Wymore, beside him. The recorded cause of death was a heart attack, complicated by degenerative diseases including syphilis, according to the Wikipedia biography summary.
What venereal disease did Errol Flynn have?
- Syphilis — the infection named in biographical accounts of his declining health (Wikipedia biography summary)
- Heart attack — the official cause on the record, with syphilis among the complicating factors
By 1959, the cumulative effects of illness and years of hard living were evident (Wikipedia biography summary).
Who was Errol Flynn living with when he died?
- Patrice Wymore — his wife of nine years was with him in Vancouver when he died (Wikipedia biography summary)
The couple had married in 1950, so Wymore was both his current wife and the person with him at the end.
Who were Errol Flynn’s pallbearers?
- Close friends and fellow actors, according to contemporary reports of the funeral (Wikipedia biography summary)
Flynn was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California (Wikipedia biography summary).
Who is buried next to Errol Flynn?
The internet occasionally asks whether Flynn “buried himself on top of Marilyn Monroe.” He did not. He died in 1959, three years before Monroe, and the graves sit in different Los Angeles cemeteries.
- Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale — Flynn’s resting place (Wikipedia biography summary)
- Marilyn Monroe — buried separately; the two graves are not connected
The pattern: a death that made headlines, a funeral that let fans mourn, and an online rumor mill that keeps mixing up the guest list.
Key dates in Errol Flynn’s life
Eight dates, one pattern: a rapid rise, a messy middle, and a family mystery that outlasted the career.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| June 20, 1909 | Born in Hobart, Tasmania |
| 1935 | First major film role in Captain Blood |
| 1935 | Marries Lili Damita |
| 1938 | Stars in The Adventures of Robin Hood |
| 1943 | Marries Nora Eddington |
| 1950 | Marries Patrice Wymore |
| October 14, 1959 | Dies in Vancouver at age 50 |
| 1970 | Son Sean Flynn disappears in Cambodia |
Dates follow the biographical record cited throughout this profile (Encyclopaedia Britannica; Wikipedia).
The pattern: everything important happened in a 24-year arc — from his Hollywood breakthrough in 1935 to his death in 1959 — with Sean’s mystery stretching eleven years past it.
What’s confirmed — and what’s still unclear
Separating the record from the legend matters because so much of the Flynn story has been repeated without verification.
Confirmed facts
- Born June 20, 1909, in Hobart; died October 14, 1959, in Vancouver (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- More than 50 films, including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
- Married three times; two children, Sean and Deirdre (Encyclopedia.com biography archive)
- Sean disappeared in Cambodia in 1970 and was declared legally dead in 1984 (Wikipedia biography summary)
- Buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California (Wikipedia biography summary)
What’s still unclear
- How much syphilis contributed to the fatal heart attack (Wikipedia biography summary)
- Who, if anyone, deserves the “true love” title
- The full distribution of the estate after the widow’s share
- What exactly happened to Sean in Cambodia in 1970 (Wikipedia biography summary)
- Why the Marilyn Monroe grave rumor persists, despite the dates
The implication: read one biography and the story feels clear; read two and the uncertainty appears. That is normal for a life this public and this messy.
In his own words and in the record
“I am dangerous to be with because, since I live dangerously, others are subject to the danger that I expose myself to. They, more likely than I, will get hurt.”
— Errol Flynn, as quoted in biographical records (Wikipedia biography summary)
Flynn’s Robin Hood ranks 18th among the greatest heroes in American film history, according to the American Film Institute’s 100 Heroes & Villains list.
— American Film Institute, cited in the Wikipedia biography summary
The pattern: the man who played heroes on screen was always easier to quote than to explain.
The lasting picture
Errol Flynn gave audiences an escape — a handsome outlaw who swung through Sherwood Forest and stole the screen. The man himself lived with three marriages, two children, a body that wore down early, and a son who never came back from Cambodia. The archives keep the films; the biographies keep the contradictions. For classic-film fans, the choice is clear: keep the sword fights and the charm, but read the sources before repeating the legend. Flynn’s lasting image is the one he left on screen, and the lasting lesson is that the man behind it never fit the script.
en.wikipedia.org, palmbeachpost.com, errolflynn.net, imdb.com
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions people search for most about Flynn.
What was Errol Flynn’s first movie role?
His first film role was in the Australian production In the Wake of the Bounty (1933), where he played Fletcher Christian (Encyclopedia.com biography archive).
Did Errol Flynn serve in the military?
He did not serve. During World War II he was rejected for military service, and in 1942 he was tried on draft-related charges and acquitted, according to the Wikipedia biography summary.
How tall was Errol Flynn?
Biographical listings put him at about 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) (Wikipedia biography summary).
Was Errol Flynn an Australian citizen?
He was born in Australia and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1942 (Wikipedia biography summary).
What awards did Errol Flynn win?
He did not win a major competitive acting award; his lasting public honor is a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Wikipedia biography summary).
Where did Errol Flynn live most of his life?
After moving to Los Angeles in the mid-1930s, he made Hollywood his base for the rest of his career (Apple TV film listing).
The pattern: the questions circle the same few mysteries — the son, the estate, and the cause of death.
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- Dirk Bogarde Biography: Life, Films, and Partner Anthony Forwood
- Claire Bloom: Biography, Career, and Personal Life
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