Errol Flynn

“The swashbuckler whose mustache came with its own sword.”

87STACH SCORE

✂ Pencil Celebrity Era: 1930s Born 1909

Is this a Legendary Stach?

Stach Stats

Stash Power62

Ruggedness78

Curl Factor5

Legend Status92

Stats are for entertainment purposes. The mustache committee's decisions are final and occasionally arbitrary.

Style: Pencil
Peak Era: 1930s
Born: 1909
Fan Votes: 0 legendary · 0 meh

The Story

About Errol Flynn

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (1909–1959) was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and led a restless early life that included work in New Guinea and a stint on stage in England before Warner Bros. signed him in 1935. His first starring role, in Captain Blood (1935), made him a star overnight and paired him with Olivia de Havilland, with whom he made eight films.

Flynn defined the Hollywood swashbuckler. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Sea Hawk (1940), and They Died with Their Boots On (1941) established the formula: athletic action, a rakish grin, and a thin, impeccably trimmed mustache that no amount of swordplay could disturb.

His later career was uneven and his private life famously turbulent, but he remained a major star into the 1950s, earning praise for The Sun Also Rises (1957). His memoir, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, was published shortly after his death in 1959.

The Verdict

Why the Stach Became Iconic

The Flynn pencil mustache is the pencil mustache of action. Where Gable's said "sophisticated," Flynn's said "dashing," and it became the standard-issue lip for every swordsman, pirate, and rogue Hollywood produced for the next two decades.

When a costume designer wants a character to look like a classic adventurer, this is the line they draw.

On the Record

Appearances

Captain Blood (1935)
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Dodge City (1939)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Sun Also Rises (1957)

Fun Facts

He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and did not become a U.S. citizen until 1942.
He made eight films with Olivia de Havilland, beginning with Captain Blood (1935).
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) was one of the earliest major Technicolor features and won three Academy Awards.
He was an avid sailor and owned a series of yachts, most famously the Zaca.
His memoir, My Wicked, Wicked Ways, was published posthumously in 1959.