In 1982, Peter O’Toole embodied Mel Brooks' impression of Errol Flynn.
In fact, these two movie star legends' lives were often a mirror.
Thus Brooks words must suffice.
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Mel Brooks, for his part, sticks with the films party line.
My company made it, and I made sure that we were telling the truth.
I was locked in the Waldorf Towers with Errol Flynn and two red-headed, Cuban sisters.
It was the craziest weekend of my life.
I was 20-years-old and just starting withYour Show of Shows.
He was a tough guy to corral and get to rehearsals.
Max Liebman assigned me to him and said, Get him into rehearsal!
Make him learn his lines!
Work with him on the sketch!
Errol Flynn was a raving maniac.
All he wanted was booze and to fool around.
He did learn the sketch.
Actually, I whispered into his ear when he was asleep.
Id say all the lines and unconsciously, I knew it would get through to his head.
It doesnt work, never will.
During his own early marriages, there was no shortage of fellow travelers to join him.
Not to worry, Peter OToole definitely stacked up in his own right.
I got drunk in Paris and woke up in Corsica, he once said.
Nonetheless, his wife Sian Phillips couldnt see through the piercing blues.
Of course, he was more of a solo act.
The dulled senses once resulted in an unforgettable night with Omar Sharif during the filming ofLawrence Arabia.
We misbehaved ourselves appallingly,Sharif admitted laterof the nunnery that they mistakenly stumbled into.
The distance led her to her own affair, which she eventually revealed.
Also agreeing to raise the children in their home, she was too beaten down to contest in court.
OToole prided himself on his resolutely unforgiving nature, Sian told Sellers.
No one knew the magnetism he wielded better than Sian acknowledging her love to the point of distraction.
He did, and does, fascinate me, she once said.
By contrast, Olivia De Havilland would certainly be in agreement.
Seventeen-year-old Peggy Larue Satterlee alleged sexual assault on Flynns boat when she was only 15.
Flynn then married 20-year-old Nora Eddington, who had been working at the courthouse during Flynns trial.
But his career became a mirror of his bad behavior.
Eventually, all that was left was a second rate career on television.
Nonetheless, we suspend disbelief and only wish the courage Flynn articulated in 1932 could be ours.
That they both did, butMy Favorite Yearmakes sure to show at what cost.
But the film must end on an upswing and Swann thrills as he always has.
Im not an actor, Im a movie star, he delivers in the films signature line.
