Eric Flynn
| Eric Flynn | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Eric William Flynn 13 December 1939 Hainan Island, China |
| Died |
4 March 2002 (aged 62) Pembrokeshire, Wales |
Cause of death | Cancer |
| Occupation | actor |
| Spouse(s) |
Fern Caroline (1981–?) |
| Children |
Kerry Daniel Flynn Jerome Flynn Lillie Flynn Johnny Flynn |
Eric William Flynn (13 December 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a British film and stage actor and singer.
Early life
Flynn was born on 13 December 1939 on Hainan, 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 Stephen Spielberg's 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. He then gained a scholarship to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he met his first wife Fern.[1]
Career
Flynn had many television roles. He appeared as Alan-A-Dale in A Challenge for Robin Hood in 1967, as Germanicus Caesar in the ITV historical drama series, The Caesars (TV series), as Leo Ryan in the Doctor Who story The Wheel in Space in 1968, as Ivanhoe in a 1970 TV mini-series, and as Major Tom Graham in series five of Freewheelers in 1971.
He was also an established musical theatre actor appearing in shows such as Evita, Annie Get Your Gun,[2] The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music, and Copacabana, starring alongside the likes of Lauren Becall, Maria Freidman, and Suzi Quatro. He originated the role of Bobby in Stephen Sondheim's Company.[1]
He died of cancer at his home in Pembrokeshire, Wales on 4 March 2002, aged 62.
Family
Flynn was the father of actors Jerome Flynn and Daniel Flynn whom he had with his first wife Fern; the former best known for appearing in Soldier Soldier and the latter known for his character in The Bill.[1] He also had a daughter, Kerry, from his first marriage. Flynn married his second wife Caroline, a South African, in 1981. Flynn's 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 Flynn is an actor and singer.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Obituary". The Telegraph. 16 March 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ↑ "Gramophone magazine, December 1986 issue, page 138, Stage and Screen section". Gramophone magazine. London, United Kingdom: Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 18 May 2012.