Bridgewater College to host Errol Flynn’s daughter for film retrospective

The daughter of legendary movie swashbuckler Errol Flynn will be the featured guest of Bridgewater College on Friday, Sept. 25, in a retrospective of her father’s life and films.

Rory Flynn, a former high-fashion model, film producer, still photographer and author of the book, The Baron of Mulholland, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Cole Hall. Her presentation is titled “Stories of My Father.” A screening of Captain Blood, the movie that made Flynn a star, will follow.

Earlier in the day, at 3:30 p.m., assistant professor of English Chad Trevitte will give a brief presentation about “Swashbuckling on Film” in Cole Hall, followed by a viewing of Flynn’s 1940 epic The Sea Hawk, which is considered the flagship film of the swashbuckling genre.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Tasmania-born Errol Flynn was an adventurer as a young man, working in the gold fields and jungles of New Guinea before wandering to England where he became a stage actor. Discovered by a Warner Brothers scout, Flynn went to Hollywood where he became an overnight sensation with his performance in 1935’s Captain Blood. Known for his extraordinary good looks, dashing screen persona and off-screen adventures that rivaled his movie roles, Flynn became the epitome of the movie hero and, with Bette Davis, was Warner Brothers’ biggest star in the 1930s and ‘40s. He died in 1959 at the age of 50.

“The public rarely saw the real Errol Flynn,” said his daughter. “My father played many roles, on screen and off screen as well; he was an entertainer, a writer, a comedian, a husband, a loving father, a practical joker and a wealthy playboy—but above all he was an adventurer.”

“His search for contentment, his rebelliousness, his need to sail the seas and explore the world, his ability to find adventure in the meritocracy of life, his courage in facing his adversaries both on and off the screen, makes my father a man who lived his life to the fullest.”

For further information, contact Dr. Stan Galloway at (540) 828-5339 or [email protected].

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,800 undergraduate students.