10 Golden Age Scandals Hollywood Wants You To Forget

Dashing and devilishly handsome, Errol Flynn was a Hollywood heartthrob before the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt were even a twinkle in their fathers’ eyes. Good looks and charm can be a dangerous combination though, and Flynn was as well known for his womanising ways as he was for his swashbuckling movie roles.

Alongside three marriages, rumoured affairs with Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard and Tyrone Power and generating some wild gossip – the best being once whipping out his notoriously well-hung penis at a Hollywood party and proceeding to play a piano solo of You Are My Sunshine with it – Flynn somehow found the time to have a few skeevy dalliances with underage girls too. His philandering eventually got him into hot water in 1942 when he was charged with the statutory rape of two teenage girls, Betty Hansen and Peggy Satterlee.

The mostly female jury swooned and found Flynn not guilty of all charges, but thanks to the highly publicised trial his onscreen romantic swashbuckler image was somewhat dented. Interestingly, the phrase ‘in like Flynn’ is thought to have been coined in reference to the actor’s legendary sexual prowess but feels kind of gross in relation to his preference for young girls.