My Days With Errol Flynn

"My Days With Errol Flynn"^[1] is an autobiography written by Vernon 'Buster' Wiles and mainly concerning his time spent with Errol Flynn in Hollywood during the 1940s. The first edition was published in 1988. The book was co-written by the professional writer, William Donati. Both Donati and Wiles were life-long advocates of Flynn and his legacy, taking time to decry his critics in person and in print. They were especially critical of the controversial author Charles Higham and the book contains a specific section destroying his allegations against Errol Flynn.

Synopsis

Buster Wiles was a stuntman, stunt and screen double during this period, working on a number of Flynn vehicles, including The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1936). In the book he re-tells numerous tales of his amusing escapades with Flynn during the 'Golden Age' of Hollywood and of the movies they made together, including how the famous Arrow Splitting scene was filmed in The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Wiles documents numerous escapades with Flynn and it is interesting to note that whilst Buster managed a whole book on Errol, Flynn didn't manage a line on Buster in his own infamous autobiography My Wicked, Wicked Ways.^[2] Similarly, Wiles makes no mention of many of Flynn's other pals including his housemate, David Niven an omission that Niven reciprocates in his own extremely amusing books The Moon's A Balloon^[3] and Bring On The Empty Horses.^[4]

The book also contains a number of unique pictures of Flynn's residence on Mulholland Drive shortly before it's unfortunate demolition in the late 1980s.

Reviews

The book was positively reviewed and a paperback edition remains in print. It is popular with Flynn aficionados still and provides a fascinating insight into the Star System for anyone interested in the Golden Age Of Hollywood.

Buster Wiles

Vernon "Buster" Wiles was born in Missouri, raised in Tennessee, and worked in Hollywood as a stuntman and double for some twenty years. Prior to this, Buster had a semi itinerant lifestyle and worked as a newsboy, boxer and a caddy prior to his success in Hollywood. He was a lifelong sports fan, especially enjoying football and boxing. Leaving the movie business in the late 1950s, Buster settled in Beaverton, Oregon, with his wife and two daughters. He became a jockeys' agent. He worked the horse-racing tracks of the West Coast of the United States every racing season.

Having met when working on several of Flynn's vehicles, Buster and Errol Flynn became firm friends during the latter's time in Hollywood. Wiles was born in 1910 and passed away in 1990, shortly after his co-writer William Donati, who had died in July 1989.

References

1. ^ Wiles, Buster. 'My Days With Errol Flynn: The Autobiography of Stuntman Buster Wiles', Roundtable Pub, 1988, ISBN 0915677369 / 0-915677-36-9, 1988
2. ^ Flynn, Errol. My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Heinemann, 1960
3. ^ Niven, David. The Moon's A Balloon. Puttnam Press, 1972
4. ^ Niven, David. Bring On The Empty Horses. Puttnam Press, 1975