{{Short description|British actor (1939–2002)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Eric Flynn | image = | caption = | birth_name = Eric William Flynn | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1939|12|13}} | birth_place = Hainan Island, Republic of China (1912–1949) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2002|03|04|1939|12|13}} | death_place = Pembrokeshire, Wales | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1960–2002 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Fern Flynn|1959|1980}} * {{marriage|Caroline Forbes|1981}} }} | children = 5, including Daniel, Jerome and Johnny }} '''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, 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. He then gained a scholarship to Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he met his first wife Fern.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news|title=Obituary|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1387893/Eric-Flynn.html|accessdate=24 May 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=16 March 2002}}</ref>
== 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'', as Leo Ryan in the ''Doctor Who'' 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'', ''Annie Get Your Gun'',<ref name=GramophoneReview>{{cite web|title=Gramophone magazine, December 1986 issue, page 138, Stage and Screen section|work=Gramophone magazine|location=London, UK|url=http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/December%201986/138/857876/Stage+and+Screen|accessdate=18 May 2012|archive-date=14 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014182309/http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/December%201986/138/857876/Stage%20and%20Screen|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Sound Of Music'', ''My Fair Lady'', ''A Little Night Music'', and ''Copacabana'', playing alongside the likes of Lauren Bacall, Maria Freidman, and Suzi Quatro. He played the role of Bobby during part of the 1972 London production of Stephen Sondheim's ''Company''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituaries: Eric Flynn |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/eric-flynn-9242936.html |accessdate=11 May 2019 |work=The Independent |date=14 March 2002 }}</ref>
== Personal life == Flynn's sons by his first marriage, Daniel and Jerome, are both actors. He also had a daughter, Kerry, by his first marriage.<ref name="Obituary" /> 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, is also an actor and singer.
== Death == Eric Flynn died of cancer at his home in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on 4 March 2002, aged 62.
== Filmography == {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1960|| ''Exodus'' || Bit Part || Uncredited |- |1962|| ''The Silent Invasion'' || Erik von Strafen || |- |1963|| ''Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow'' || Lt. Philip Brackenbury || |- |1965|| ''Mr. Brown Comes Down the Hill'' || Mr. Brown || |- |1967|| ''A Challenge for Robin Hood'' || Alan-a-Dale || |- |1980|| ''Safari 3000'' || Rally Team Interviewer || |- |1985|| ''Deadly Passion'' || Robert Chandler || |- |1987|| ''Empire of the Sun'' || British Prisoner No. 1 || |- |1988|| ''The Zero Option'' || Col. Patrick Ansell || |}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|id=0283446|name=Eric Flynn}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Eric}} Category:1939 births Category:2002 deaths Category:20th-century British male singers Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:British male film actors Category:British male stage actors Category:British male television actors Category:Deaths from cancer in Wales Category:Male actors from Hainan Category:People educated at Chatham House Grammar School