Maurice Bennett Flynn
Maurice Bennett Flynn (May 26, 1892 – March 4, 1959) was an American football player and actor. He was also known as "Lefty" Flynn because in football, he kicked with his left foot.
Maurice Bennett Flynn

Fox Films · Internet Archive · Public domain
- Name
- Maurice Bennett Flynn
- Birthplace
- Greenwich, Connecticut
- Place of death
- Camden, South Carolina
- Occupation
- Football player - Actor
- Spouse
- * Irene Leary
- Born
- 1892 · Greenwich.
- Died
- 1959
- Nationality
- United States
- Education
- Yale University
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q6792868 · wikipedia · Maurice Bennett Flynn
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Maurice Bennett Flynn • Birthplace — Greenwich, Connecticut • Place of death — Camden, South Carolina • Occupation — Football player - Actor • Spouse — * Irene Leary • Blanche Palmer • Nora Phipps • Viola Dana • Illustration — Film promotion featuring Flynn, Wid's Year Book, 1921
Biography
Biography
Flynn was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, on May 26, 1892. He later attended Yale University starting in 1910. He was expelled from Yale in January 1913 after he married Irene Leary, a chorus girl. They separated after 11 days, and their divorce became final in 1914. In 1916 he married Blanche Shove Palmer and they had two children, including basketball player and broadcaster Bud Palmer. Between 1919 and 1927, Flynn appeared in 40 feature films, often as the lead actor, and sometimes as a sports hero or daring adventurer. He moved to Tryon, North Carolina, and was married for the third time to Nora Langhorne Phipps. She was the youngest sister of Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor and of Irene Langhorne, who was married to the artist Charles Dana Gibson. Flynn was married to actress Viola Dana from 1925 to 1929. Nora, Flynn's third wife, persuaded Lefty to cure his alcoholism through Christian Science treatments. She tried less-than-successfully to convince F. Scott Fitzgerald to try the Mary Baker Eddy approach in March 1934, when she and Lefty were caring for Scottie, Zelda and Scott's daughter, during trying times for a depressed Scott. The next month Fitzgerald published a story, "The Intimate Strangers," based on the Flynns. He died on March 4, 1959, in Camden, SC. He was 66.
Filmography
Filmography
• Oh, Boy! (1919) • The Silver Horde (1920) • The Great Accident (1920) • Going Some (1920) • Stop Thief! (1920) • Officer 666 (1920) • Just Out of College (1920) • Roads of Destiny (1921) • Children of the Night (1921) • Dangerous Curve Ahead (1921) • Voices of the City (1921) • The Old Nest (1921) • The Last Trail (1921) • Bucking the Line (1921) • Oath-Bound (1922) • The Woman Who Walked Alone (1922) • Roughshod (1922) • Smiles Are Trumps (1922) • Omar the Tentmaker (1922) • Drums of Fate (1923) • Hell's Hole (1923) • The Snow Bride (1923) • Salomy Jane (1923) • The No-Gun Man (1924) • The Millionaire Cowboy (1924) • The Uninvited Guest (1924) • Code of the Sea (1924) • Breed of the Border (1924) • Open All Night (1924) • Speed Wild (May 1925) • High and Handsome (September 1925) • Heads Up (October 1925) • Smilin' at Trouble (December 1925) • The College Boob (1926) • Sir Lumberjack (1926) • The Traffic Cop (1926) • Glenister of the Mounted (1926) • Mulhall's Greatest Catch (1926) • The Golden Stallion (1927)

Lobby card for the American drama film Glenister of the Mounted (1926) with Maurice "Lefty" Flynn, Lee Shumway, and Bess Flowers.
Harry Garson Productions / Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) · eBay card

Still from the American western film The Last Trail (1921) with Maurice 'Lefty' Flynn aka Maurice Bennett Flynn and Eva Novak, on page 60 of the August 27, 1921 Exhibitors Herald.
Fox Film Corporation · Exhibitors Herald (Jul. - Sep. 1921) on the Internet Archive
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Maurice Bennett Flynn, revision 1355771763 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Yale Bars Wedded Athlete. 'Lefty' Flynn, Who Married a Chorus Girl, Cannot Return to College. New York Times. January 8, 1913.
- 2.Martin, Douglas. Bud Palmer, Jump Shot Pioneer, Dies at 91. The New York Times. March 22, 2013.
- 3.'Lefty' Flynn to Wed Again. Former Yale Football Star Will Take Bride Here Tuesday. New York Times. March 3, 1916.
- 4.E. Ray Canterbery and Thomas Birch, "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Under the Influence" (St. Paul: Paragon House, 2006).
- 5.Maurice Flynn, Colonist was 66. The Newport (RI) Daily News. 6 Mar 1959.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Christgau, John. Origins of the Jump Shot: Eight Men Who Shook the World of Basketball. University of Nebraska Press. 54–78. 1999. 0-8032-6394-5.
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Studied at
1- Yale UniversityOrganisation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 September 2026.
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