“In Like Flynn” – A saying used to refer to a quick and easy sexual conquest, associated with actor Errol Flynn for his charm and good looks.  And his acquittal of statutory rape charges brought against him by two minors in 1942.   

Errol Flynn WAS charming and had movie star good looks. He also had a fondness for young, young women.  Read my entry on Beverly Aadland, his 17-year-old girlfriend who was with him when he died at age 50.  They had been dating for two years.  Can you imagine that scenario in 2025? 

Errol was undeniably movie-star material – handsome, photogenic and charismatic.  For me personally, I’ve always been more intrigued with his personal life and womanizing more than his acting.  The first movie I saw him in was “Elizabeth and Essex” and I thought he was just “ok”.  Apparently so did Bette Davis, at first.  She later came around to saying that he was more than a handsome face and quite the good actor.  Olivia de Havilland, with whom he supposedly he had a dalliance, was frequently Errol’s co-star – and this strong lady/superb actress also gave Errol his props.  I need to catch up on his films, but in the meantime, I’ll take a chronological dive into his wives and co-stars.  Before doing that, here's a short clip from 1957 of older Errol on The Steve Allen show, interspersed with classic clips of the younger Flynn, wives and movie scenes.

LILI DAMITA:  Married from 1935-1942 - Errol’s first wife was a notorious spitfire – apparently feisty, “unstable and violent”.  Featured in “Hollywood Babylon”, the always “reliable” and “fact churning” Kenneth Anger played up the In Like Flynn trial and called-out Lili Damita as an alleged bisexual.  All I knew, was that I was obsessed with trying to find her address when I was a teenager.  I tried a few addresses, but never received a reply.  I’ve never seen her in a movie, so I have no platform to stand on for seeking her out other than sexual ambiguity, great portraits, vintage postcards and being in “Hollywood Babylon”.  Ultimately, I found this fantastic vintage 8x10 of Lili Damita inscribed to “Cinelandia”, an original still from 1935 promoting “Frisco Kid”.  Lili and Errol produced the most beautiful son, Sean Flynn.  I think he was more handsome than Errol.  Sean went missing during the Vietnam War.  (see clip at bottom of page) Although he was declared dead, after Lili Damita spent years and lots of money looking for him, he very well COULD be alive somewhere … It might be easier to “disappear” as Errol Flynn’s son than to bear the years of being hounded by dad’s legacy.  BTW – Lili was WAY old when she married Errol.  31. 

MARGUERITE CHAPMAN – Not a wife. But a starlet signed to Warner Brothers when Errol was ruling the roost at the studio.  She was 23 when signed to Warner Brothers in 1941.  There were rumors about her and Errol.  She was young, she was pretty, she was fresh meat at the studio, Errol had a roving eye.  Math. 

NORA EDDINGTON: Married from 1943- 1949 - Errol met his 2nd wife, Nora Eddington, when she worked in the court where he was facing charges of statutory rape.  She was 19 when they met; they got married when she was 20 and he was 35.  They were married for about 5 years, and she appeared in a few films.  I love her credit on iMBD for “The Adventures of Don Juan” with Errol: “Lady in the Carriage Asking for Directions”. I’ve matched her autograph with a pic from that scene.  Other than a few Errol movie and documentary appearances, she wrote a book about their time together (shocker) called “Errol & Me” (clever).  They had two daughters: Deidre and Rory.  There was magazine coverage of Rory in the 80’s which inspired me to write her, but I never received a reply. Nora went on to marry Dick Haymes after Flynn.  Which is interesting to me.  Haymes must have been seriously packing or had some serious swagger because he married quite a few Hollywood beauties and I’ll cover him separately. 

JULIE BISHOP:  Julie was Errol’s co-star in “Northern Pursuit” (1943) – There are rumors that Julie and Errol were intimately involved in between (overlapping?) marriages.  But (a) who really cares and (b) when two pretty people are stuck every day on a set making movies is anybody surprised, in any decade, that people like to bump their bits together? 

VIVECA LINDFORS: Errol’s co-star in “The Adventures of Don Juan” (1948) is in my knowledge base for being in “Creepshow” (1982) in the episode where Carrie Nye says “I want my cake!”.  I’m still trying to find an autograph of Carrie Nye and need to apologize to the spirit of Viveca Lindfors for not being fully appreciative of her true acting depth.  I’ll catch up, I promise.  But come, on … this is GREAT!  Click on the link to take you to YouTube. Because you know how scary things are considered "ADULT" now (???) - anyway, it's worth it to watch her.

PATRICE WYMORE: Errol’s third wife had a brief Hollywood career, and she was 23 when she married 41-year-old Errol in 1950.  For all intents and purposes, he treated her well and left her taken care of, since they were technically still married at the time of his death (when he was with the teenaged Beverly Aadland). I love the picture of Patrice Wymore sitting at a table with her stepson, Sean Flynn.  She seems mesmerized by him. Understandably so.  He gives good face.  Here's Errol & Patrice on their wedding day ...

HARRY JOE BROWN:  I’ve included an autograph of the Hollywod producer who oversaw the American debut films of both Errol Flynn in “Captain Blood” (1935) and Errol’s son, Sean Flynn, in “Son of Captain Blood” (1962) 

You’ll note from my pile of pics, clippings, and collectibles, that I’ve got a few books on Errol Flynn.  Notably the one by Charles Higham “Errol Flynn: The Untold Story” stands out because he conjectured that Errol Flynn was not only bi-sexual, engaging in lots of gay sex (including with Tyrone Power), but that Errol was also a Nazi spy/sympathizer.  I’m a big fan of biographies, but Charles Higham is not a fully reliable source and creates a narrative that is simply not true.  You can see the newspaper article here about Errol’s family suing him.  Tsk tsk. Telling tales.  

Interesting story and great clips of Errol's handsome son Sean, his movie career and mysterious disappearance.

To close out on Errol Flynn, check my page about Beverly Aadland, Errol’s 17-year-old girlfriend who was with him when he died.   

https://www.bobbyatgloss.com/celebrity-list/aaland%2C-beverly