Eric William Flynn (13 December 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a British actor.

Early life

Flynn was born on 13 December 1939 on

Hainan Island Hainan is an island province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally means "South of the Sea ...

, Republic of China (1912–1949), where his father was a customs officer for the Hong Kong government. After the outbreak of war and the Japanese invasion of China, his family spent several years interned in a Japanese prisoner of war camp (50 years later he would play a British prisoner in the film '' Empire of the Sun'', set in a Japanese prison of war camp in China). He returned to Britain at the age of 13, and was educated at Chatham House School in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

. He then gained a scholarship to

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA), where he met his first wife Fern.

Career

Flynn had many television roles. He appeared as Alan-A-Dale in '' A Challenge for Robin Hood'' in 1967, as

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a Roman people, Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns against Arminius in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicu ...

Caesar in the ITV historical drama series, '' The Caesars'', as Leo Ryan in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' story " The Wheel in Space" in 1968, as Ivanhoe in a 1970 TV mini-series, as Major Tom Graham in series five of '' Freewheelers'' in 1971 and as Slattery in one episode of '' Thriller'' ('A Killer In Every Corner'), in 1975. He was also an established musical theatre actor appearing in shows such as '' Evita'', ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

'', '' Annie Get Your Gun'', ''

The Sound Of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'', '' A Little Night Music'', and ''Copacabana'', playing alongside the likes of

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

, Maria Freidman, and

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...

. He played the role of Bobby during part of the 1972 London production of Stephen Sondheim's ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

''.

Personal life

Flynn's sons by his first marriage, Daniel and

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

, are both actors. He also had a daughter, Kerry, by his first marriage. Flynn married his second wife Caroline, a South African, in 1981. His daughter from his second marriage, Lillie Flynn, finished a three-year acting degree at The Central School of Speech and Drama in 2007 and his son,

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

, is also an actor and singer.

Death

Eric Flynn died of cancer at his home in

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, Wales, on 4 March 2002, aged 62.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Eric 1939 births 2002 deaths 20th-century British male singers Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British male film actors British male stage actors British male television actors Deaths from cancer in Wales Male actors from Hainan People educated at Chatham House Grammar School