The Errol Flynn Theatre

By 1956, Errol Flynn was no longer in demand in Hollywood. He had already moved to Europe to star in international productions such as the Italian-made Crossed Swords (with Gina Lollobrigida) and the British-lensed King's Rhapsody and The Dark Avenger (aka The Warriors). He had also dabbled in U.S. television by playing the title role in The Sword of Villon, an episode of the half-hour anthology series Screen Directors Playhouse. (Ronald Colman had played French poet and rogue Francois Villon years earlier in the movie If I Were King.)

So, it made sense for Flynn to follow in the footsteps of former screen stars like Dick Powell and Loretta Young and host his own anthology series. The Errol Flynn Theatre debuted in 1956 and ran for a single season consisting of 27 half-hour episodes. The first episode, The Evil Thought, starring Christopher Lee, was actually produced three years earlier as a pilot for a failed series. England's Bray Studios, which later became home to Hammer Films, provided production facilities for Flynn's show. However, its target audience was American television viewers. Unlike the aforementioned anthology series, Errol's show played in syndication only and was not shown on network television.

Patrice Wymore.

Flynn introduced each episode and appeared in every fourth one. His most frequent co-star was his wife, Patrice Wymore, but the anthology series featured several well-known stars: Paulette Goddard, Christopher Lee, Glynis Johns, Herbert Lom, June Havoc, Mai Zetterling, and Brian Aherne. According to some sources, eighteen of the episodes have been lost. The visual and sound quality of the surviving episodes is iffy at best, which isn't unusual for a 1950s television series.

Errol and son Sean in "Strange Auction."

In 1990, a video company called TV Gold released a VHS tape containing three episodes of The Errol Flynn Theatre: "The Duel" (with Flynn); "The Sealed Room" (starring Glynis Johns and Herbert Lom); and Strange Auction" (with Flynn, his wife Patrice Wymore, and son Sean Flynn). I watched all three episodes recently and, sadly, none of them are very good. The best is probably "The Sealed Room," a tale of a woman who begins to remember events that occurred hundreds of years earlier. Still, it's fun to watch Errol go all out as a despicable villain in "The Duel" and portray a lovable rake in "Strange Auction" (though his Irish accent comes and goes). The latter also provides a rare opportunity to see Errol play opposite his wife Patrice and son Sean (whose real-life mother was actress Lili Damita).

Errol Flynn's career perked up briefly after the demise of The Errol Flynn Theatre. A supporting role in 1957's The Sun Also Rises earned him his best reviews in years and there was even talk about a possible Oscar nomination. That never happened, of course, but it led to other roles in major motion pictures like Too Much, Too Soon and The Roots of Heaven (both 1958). Errol Flynn died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1959 at the age of 50.


This post is part of the Big Stars on the Small Screen Blogathon hosted by our friend Aurora at How Sweet It Was. Click here for more information on this blogathon.

Family Business: Actors with a Classic Film Star Parent

I recently watched Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, which co-starred the adult children of John Wayne and Tyrone Power. So, I thought it'd be fun to write about actors that were the children of classic film stars. The challenge with this kind of post is narrowing the topic to a manageable size. You could write a book on it (and there probably is one). Also, many movie star children became famous in their own right (e.g., Michael Douglas, Lon Chaney, Jr., Carrie Fisher, the Barrymores, the Carradines, etc.). For this post, I just want to focus on a handful of lesser-known--but still interesting--classic film star offspring.

Sean Flynn - Errol Flynn's son with Lili Damita made his acting debut at age 15 opposite his father and stepmother Patrice Wymore in an episode of The Errol Flynn Theatre. His first film was 1960's Where the Boys Are, though he was uncredited and you'll miss him if you blink. He spent the rest of the decade starring in European films, the most famous being The Son of Captain Blood. He left acting in 1966 and became a respected photojournalist. He was under contract to Time Magazine when he disappeared in Cambodia in 1970. It's now believed that he and fellow photojournalist Dana Stone were captured by guerillas and later killed. Sean Flynn was declared legally dead by his mother in 1984.

Taryn Power - The daughter of Tyrone Power and Linda Christian was born in 1953 and was only five when her father died of a heart attack. She appeared in just eight movies, with the most notable ones being The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) with Richard Chamberlain and the Ray Harryhausen fantasy Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). The latter film also starred Patrick Wayne, the son of John Wayne.

Jody McCrea - Best known as a regular in the Beach Party films, Joel Dee McCrea's parents were Joel McCrea and Frances Dee. After a stint in the Army, he had small parts in several 1950s films and co-starred with his father in the short-lived TV Western Wichita Town. He appeared in six of the seven Beach Party movies playing the same dull-witted character who was known as Deadhead (Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Muscle Beach Party), Bonehead (Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini), or Big Lunk (Pajama Party). He even recorded a novelty song in support of Bikini Beach. Jody retired from acting in 1970 and became a rancher. He died in 2009 at the age of 74.

Christopher Mitchum - The second son of Robert and Dorothy Mitchum appeared in over 60 films from the 1970s through the 1990s, including three John Wayne Westerns: Chism, Rio Lobo, and Big Jake. He served on the Board of Directors for the Screen Actors Guild in the 1980s. A political conservative, he ran for a Congressional seat in 2012 and plans to run again later this year. He and his wife Cindy have been married since 1964 and have four children.

James Mitchum - Robert and Dorothy Mitchum's oldest son made his first credited appearance in his father's moonshine drive-in classic Thunder Road (1958). He played his father's younger brother! He carved out a niche as a supporting player, sometimes playing unsavory characters (he's the de facto villain in Ride the Wild Surf, one of my favorite sand-and-surf pictures). His only "A" picture was the all-star In Harm's Way (1965).

Patrick Wayne - Born Patrick John Morrison in 1939, the Duke's son appeared in nine movies with his father and had significant roles in McLintock!, The Green Berets, and Big Jake. He performed admirably as the dashing lead in two modest 1977 fantasy films: Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger and The People That Time Forgot. Alas, major stardom eluded him, though he continued to appear regularly in films and on television throughout the 1980s.

Mary Crosby - The daughter of Bing Crosby and Kathryn Grant is best known for playing Sue Ellen's sister, Kristin Shepard, on the TV series Dallas. The devious Kristin secured her place in the annals of TV history when it was revealed that she shot J.R. in one of the highest-rated TV episodes of all time. Mary Crosby has appeared in numerous TV series and miniseries. She had little success on the big screen, though she made a spunky heroine in the action-fantasy The Ice Pirates. It's interesting to note that Mary's mother was the female lead in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), which sorta connects Mary to Patrick Wayne and Taryn Power.