William Flynn (13 December 1948 – 11 July 2007) was a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n actor and comedian, perhaps best known for playing

Tjokkie ''Running Riot'' is a 2006 South African comedy film directed by Koos Roets and stars Bill Flynn. The cast includes Paul Slabolepszy, Vanessa Harris, Robin Smith, Nazli George, Brendan Gearly and Joey Rasdien. It is based on a play by Pau ...

Early life

Flynn was born William Frederick Flynn in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and matriculated from

Plumstead High School Plumstead is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, England. It is located east of Woolwich. History Until 1965, Plumstead was in the historic county of Kent and the detail of much of its early history can b ...

. He went to the

UCT The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university stat ...

drama school and was a founder member of the

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

theatre in

. He was the son of William Frederick and Mary Elizabeth (Née Morley)

Overview

Flynn was perhaps best known for his portrayal of

, a character that he portrayed as a wise-cracking,

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

drinking

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

fan. Flynn had won 13 best actor awards, including the ''Dublin Critics'' and ''Golden Entertainer Awards''. Among these were: * Best Supporting Actor for ''Doubles'' – Fleur du Cap – Cape Town – 1987 * Best Actor for ''

Saturday Night at the Palace ''Saturday Night at the Palace'' is a play by South Africa's Paul Slabolepszy. Plot The play relates the story of two working class whites (Vince and Forsie) who arrive at an isolated roadhouse (''The Palace'') just as it is closing. The black ...

'' * Best Actor Award for ''Hello and Goodbye'' – Dublin * Best Actor Award for a Comedy ''Play It Again Sam'' * Best Screenplay Award for ''Saturday Night at the Palace'' * Best Actor Award for role of

Willy Loman William "Willy" Loman is a fictional character and the protagonist of Arthur Miller's play ''Death of a Salesman'', which debuted on Broadway with Lee J. Cobb playing Loman at the Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949. Loman is a 63-year-old tra ...

in ''Death of a Salesman'' His film writing also won him a Best Screenplay award for ''Saturday Night at the Palace''. His karate comedy movie

Kill and Kill Again ''Kill and Kill Again'' is a 1981 action film directed by Ivan Hall. The film stars James Ryan as Steve Chase who is hired to save the scientist Horatio Kane, who has been kidnapped by the scientist Marduk. Chase gathers together a team of merc ...

was a top box office hit in America. Bill's movie of ''Saturday Night at The Palace'' won several Vita Film Awards, a Best Actor award at the Italian Taormina Film festival as well as a Merit Award at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. He was a longtime friend and collaborator of the actor and playwright

Paul Slabolepszy Paul Slabolepszy (born 1948), or Paul "Slab", is a South African actor and playwright. Overview Slabolepszy was born in Bolton, England. His mother was English and his father was a Polish refugee. The family then emigrated to South Africa. He ...

. Flynn was also involved in the music world. He was a co-founder and band member of ''The Rock Rebels'' (1998–2007) and the lead singer for ''Vinnie and the Viscounts'' (1987–1997). At the time of his death, Flynn was married to actress Jana Cilliers, his second wife.

Death

Flynn died in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

on 11 July 2007 of an apparent

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. He was 58 years old. His highly successful career included leading roles in over 140 stage plays, musicals, 42 films, dozens of TV shows and thousands of radio and TV commercials.

Filmography

* 1973

House of the Living Dead ''House of the Living Dead'' (''Skaduwees Oor Brugplaas'', or ''Shadows over Bridge Farm''), also known as ''Doctor Maniac'', is a 1974 science-fiction horror film directed by Ray Austin. The film, an international co-production between Great ...

* 1974

No Gold for a Dead Diver ''No Gold for a Dead Diver'' (german: Ein toter Taucher nimmt kein Gold) is a 1974 West German adventure film directed by Harald Reinl and starring Horst Janson, Monika Lundi and Marius Weyers.Bock & Bergfelder p. 390 A thriller about deep sea ...

* 1979 Hello and Goodbye * 1981

* 1982 City Lovers * 1983

Prisoners of the Lost Universe ''Prisoners of the Lost Universe'' is a 1983 British fantasy science fiction action film by Terry Marcel and Harry Robertson. Shot in South Africa, three people are transported to a parallel universe when an earthquake occurs just as the scien ...

* 1983 Funny People II * 1985 Magic Is Alive, My Friend * 1986 Senor Smith * 1987

* 1990 Kwagga Strikes Back * 1993 Die Prince van Pretoria * 1994 Kalahari Harry * 1994 Guns of Honor * 1994 Marie s'en va t-en guerre * 1995 Treasure at Elephant Ridge * 1996 Human Timebomb * 1999 Heel Against the Head * 2000 The Carruthers Brothers * 2004 Oh Schuks... I'm Gatvol * 2004 Jozi Streets * 2006 Krakatoa - The Last Days * 2006 Running Riot

Music

CD as singer

* ''Toyi Kaka'' – 1995 * ''I Don't Like Cricket, I Love It'' – 1996 * ''B.O.K.K.E.'' – 1999 * ''Gees'' * ''Gooi My A Tenor'' * ''Tenors Racket'' * ''Rainbow Warrior''

CD as group

* ''Get Vrot'' – Vinnie & The Viscounts * ''Rock & Roll Party'' – Vinnie & The Viscounts * ''Get This'' – The Rock Rebels * ''Gooi Mielies'' – The Rock Rebels

References

External links

*
IOL: Flynn's death leaves gap in industry

Independent Online: Flynn brought laughter – DA

Online: Talent and utter niceness Flynn's trademarks

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20081012004021/http://www.sabcnews.com/entertainment/the_arts/0,2172,152393,00.html SABC News: Arts community shocked at Flynn's untimely death
The Times: Bill Flynn: A seriously funny man

Baxter Theatre Stills

"Living Together" with Jana Cilliers (1979)

"Saturday Night at the Palace" with Fats Dibeco and Paul Slabolepszy (1983)

Paul Slabolepszy's "Pale Natives" (1994)

As Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" (2001)

"Running Riot" with Paul Slabolepszy (2002)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynn, Bill 1948 births 2007 deaths South African male stage actors University of Cape Town alumni South African male film actors