Errol Flynn, who died on 14 October, 1959, aged 50, was a Hollywood star famed as much for his swashbuckling on-screen romances as his scandalous off-screen ones.

He was a handsome and heroic screen idol who, despite never being recognised by a single award nomination, became an immensely popular crowd-pleaser. His notoriety only added to his appeal and mystique and he was the quintessential Hollywood rascal of the 1940s.

Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn was born on 20 June, 1909, on the Australian island of Tasmania to Irish parents. His family moved to Sydney when he was young and there he attended the Church of England Grammar School but was expelled for fighting.

In his post-school days he moved to New Guinea where ambitious tobacco and copper ventures both failed.

In 1933 he left for England where he got his first acting job with the Northampton Repertory Company. The same year he landed his first film role, In the Wake of the Bounty, and the following year starred in Murder at Monte Carlo, now a ‘lost’ film.

During its filming, he was spotted by a Warner Brothers executive and offered a contract in Hollywood. His first starring role was in the 1935 pirate caper Captain Blood and he became an overnight sensation.

He then appeared in such classic adventures as The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Prince and the Pauper (1937) and Adventures of Don Juan (1948). He took on the famous roles of Robin Hood (1938) and General Custer in They Died with Their Boots On (1941) and played a lone cowboy in Dodge City (1939).

He was married three times – to Lili Damita (1935-1942), Nora Eddington (1943-1948) and Patrice Wymore (1950 until his death) – and had one son and three daughters.

He spent his last few years living in Jamaica and in his colourful autobiography summed up his life by saying: "I had now made about 45 pictures, but what had I become? I knew all too well: a phallic symbol. All over the world I was, as a name and personality, equated with sex."

Mr Flynn died of a heart-attack in Vancouver in 1959 at a friend’s flat, where, despite feeling ill, he had thrown a party and regaled guests with wild tales of Hollywood before collapsing in a bathroom. His drinking buddies placed six bottles of scotch in his coffin as a parting gift.