Maurice 'Lefty' Flynn

Biography

Maurice Bennett Flynn, a native of Greenwich, Connecticut, entered Yale University in 1911. In 1912, he joined the football team and made an immediate impact as a fullback. Nicknamed "Lefty" (because he kicked with his left foot and threw with his left hand), he also excelled in baseball and track. While attending Yale, he lived in the Bronx, acquiring a second nickname, "The Bronx Express." Unfortunately, in two of Yale's biggest games of the 1912 season, he played below par against Harvard and Princeton. In January of 1913, Flynn married Irene Leary, a chorus girl. Some newspapers mistakenly reported that he had married actress Ina Claire, possibly because Leary used the stage name Irene Claire. Officials at Yale were not happy with the situation, and barred Flynn from returning to the school. Before 1913 was over, the marriage ended in divorce, with Leary naming another chorus girl as correspondent. In 1914, Flynn was a guest at the Long Island home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Phipps. Mrs. Phipps, formerly Nora Langhorne, fell for Flynn, as he did for her. They had a brief affair, and then Mrs. Phipps returned to her husband. Flynn went to Colorado to live on a 2500-acre ranch his father had bought for him. But that was not to be the last of this romance. In March of 1916, Flynn married again, this time to Blanche Palmer, a New York society woman. Although this marriage also failed, two children were born, one of whom was Bud Palmer, who became a famous sportscaster. Flynn's first foray into films was the 1919 musical comedy "Oh Boy!" in which he played, appropriately enough, a football hero. In 1920, Flynn, who was a friend of author Rex Beach, was cast in the role of "Thug" in the Beach story "The Silver Horde." Flynn signed on with Goldwyn, and a few years later signed with Fox. He worked steadily throughout the 1920s, ascending from supporting to lead roles. In 1925, actress Grace Darmond announced that she and Flynn were engaged. Flynn quickly denied this, claiming he hardly knew Darmond. In June of 1925, Flynn married actress Viola Dana. In 1929, Dana filed for divorce, charging Flynn with cruelty and intoxication. With his film career having ended a few years earlier, Flynn took a job as the sports director of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. In 1931, Flynn sent a cable to Nora Langhorne Phipps, who was living in London and soon to be divorced. He told her he was coming to England and wanted to see her. Seventeen years had gone by, but their love was rekindled. For the fourth time, Flynn took a wife, marrying Phipps in London. After the ceremony, a photographer attempted to take a photo of the new Mrs. Flynn. With the bride and groom attempting to avoid reporters, Flynn sprang into action, tackling the photographer. Unperturbed, the photographer still managed to snap a photo of the bride. The couple made their home in Tryon, North Carolina, where Flynn served as President of the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club. In 1935, writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, then in the throes of alcoholism, came to Tryon and befriended the Flynns. Mrs. Flynn, a Christian Scientist, attempted to help Fitzgerald, and for a time, the author was able to stop drinking. But once Fitzgerald left Tryon, the drinking returned. Flynn's marriage to Phipps was his most successful, with the couple staying together for almost twenty years before divorcing. In September of 1950, Flynn married one final time, to Lesley Bogert Taylor. The couple lived in Camden, South Carolina, where Flynn founded the Lefty Flynn Pro-Amateur Golf Tournament. Flynn died from colon cancer on March 4, 1959, in Camden.