‘Variety Confidential’ Revisits the Errol Flynn Trial That Became a Media Circus
variety.comVariety Staff Follow Us on Twitter After starring in the 1935 film “Captain Blood,” actor Errol Flynn became the big screen’s foremost swashbuckler.
Seven years later, two underage girls accused the golden age movie star of statutory rape. In “When You’re A Star,” the sixth episode of Variety and iHeart Podcasts’ true crime podcast “Variety Confidential,” host Tracy Pattin and co-host Matt Donnelly, Variety’s senior entertainment and media writer, look back at Flynn’s 1943 rape trial.
Fame, male privilege and hero worship all played a part in the outcome. Describing the relevance the Flynn trial has today, Donnelly explains that it’s a “really good example of how superstardom can impact a case.” In 1942, the handsome native of Australia was at the peak of his fame at age 33. “Flynn was probably best known for starring in ‘The Adventures of Robinhood’ in 1938.
That same year, Life magazine named him the most famous man in America,” Pattin recalls. As one of the most well-known actors at the time, Flynn was often invited to parties where he mingled with the industry’s elite and was introduced to aspiring actresses.
Read more on variety.com
