Radley Flynn

L. Radley Flynn, known as Rad, was born on June 14, 1902, in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, and died on March 9, 1978. An English singer and actor specializing in bass roles, Flynn became closely associated with the Savoy Operas of Gilbert and Sullivan through his long tenure with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which he joined in 1928 and with which he remained until 1951.

Flynn's earliest assignments with D'Oyly Carte were modest in scale. His first role was Giorgio in The Gondoliers, followed the next year by Go-To in The Mikado, the Carpenter's Mate in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Scynthius in Princess Ida. By 1931, he had added Old Adam Goodheart in Ruddigore to his repertoire and began substituting for Sydney Granville as Private Willis in Iolanthe. Flynn departed the company in 1933 to work in music hall but returned in 1934, resuming the same roles and eventually appearing on Broadway in productions including The Gondoliers, Ruddigore, The Hot Mikado, Princess Ida, and H.M.S. Pinafore, with his Broadway career spanning 1934 to 1952.

Over the following years, Flynn's responsibilities within the company expanded considerably. In addition to his established roles, he substituted as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, the title role in The Mikado, and Sir Roderic in Ruddigore. In 1941, he took over the role of Private Willis from Granville on a permanent basis and assumed the Usher in Trial by Jury from Richard Walker. His duties shifted again in 1946, when he relinquished Private Willis and temporarily exchanged the Usher for the Foreman of the Jury. When Walker left the company in 1948, Flynn reclaimed the Usher and began playing the Lieutenant of the Tower in The Yeomen of the Guard on occasion. Between 1946 and 1951, he also substituted for Darrell Fancourt in several principal roles, among them the Pirate King, Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Mikado, Sir Roderic, and Sergeant Meryll in Yeomen.

In 1940, Flynn married D'Oyly Carte contralto Ella Halman. After twenty-three years with the organization, he left D'Oyly Carte in 1951 and relocated to America, where he and Halman joined Martyn Green on a touring series of Gilbert and Sullivan productions presented by S. M. Chartock. His roles on the 1952 tour included the Usher, the Carpenter's Mate, and Go-To. Flynn also appeared on BBC radio in 1951, performing the title role in The Mikado.

Flynn's recording work with D'Oyly Carte documented several of his signature roles. He recorded Go-To in The Mikado in both 1936 and 1950, the Carpenter's Mate in H.M.S. Pinafore in 1949, the Usher in Trial by Jury in 1949, Giorgio in The Gondoliers in 1950, and Old Adam in Ruddigore in 1950.

After their time in America, the Flynns returned to England and settled in Penrith, where they became active in amateur operatic circles and founded the Penrith Savoyards in 1959. In 1975, during the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company's centennial season, both Flynns were invited to take part in a special performance of Trial by Jury, in which fourteen former company stars joined the regular D'Oyly Carte chorus. Throughout their lives, the Flynns maintained a close friendship with former D'Oyly Carte tenor John Dean. Flynn died while fishing in the River Eden in Cumbria.