The Scandalous Freddie McEvoy

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​The sub-title of this book - “The true story of the swashbuckling Australian rogue”- might easily apply to the actor, Errol Flynn, but this is, in fact, the story of Errol’s best mate, Freddie McEvoy, who was cut from the same cloth in more ways than one.

Like Errol, he just happened to be born in Australia but made his impact elsewhere in sporting achievements, dubious enterprises that included gambling, smuggling and spying (either for the Allies or the Nazis, take your pick) but with the same insatiable pursuit of sex as Errol. Rather than favouring underage girls, as did his friend, Freddie sought out women of any age who either already had a fortune or would inherit one. Seems his charm was such that few women could, or even wanted to, escape his clutches.

Born in Melbourne in 1907, he was spirited off to Europe by his mother at the age of six and raised to appreciate high society and the finer things in life, rather than working for a living. He first came to public attention – in Europe at least – when he won a medal for the British in the bobsled in the 1936 Winter Olympics. He also was an early racing-car champion. Always short of a buck, he inveigled his way into the smart 1930s Riviera and Hollywood sets, married several times but died a mysterious death off the coast of Morocco in 1951 that generated much newspaper coverage and, not least, a ludicrous decade-long bureaucratic stoush between the British and Australian governments over the piddling cost of his burial in Casablanca. While Freddie’s hedonistic and outrageous life could make a great TV series, the bizarre burial tale has all the ingredients for a black comedic re-telling of its own.

Errol Flynn’s shenanigans are well-known; Freddie’s less so. While the research appears thorough, when it comes to celebrities who live life larger than we lesser mortals, there are always going to be grey areas as to what is truth and what is sensationalist muckraking fiction, even if some of it comes from official files or seemingly impeccable intelligence. (Charles Higham’s biography of Errol Flynn is notorious for this.)

There is much repetition and exposition on Freddie’s dalliances and dodgy dealings that begin to verge on the tiresome. Some of the historical background is more interesting, especially his suspected connections to the Nazis and Vichy French Government that warranted his constant surveillance by J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI.

The images in the book are few and of poor quality and it is puzzling why there are not more clearer glossies of his wives, famous friends, and associates.

Although allegedly a roguish charmer who did no real harm, Freddie is not a person one can warm to. He was always out for the main chance, used people like cigarettes, enjoyed for the moment then discarded. His uncaring attitude towards his only daughter is particularly unsavoury. Like Errol Flynn, Freddie McEvoy reflects a certain type of man and the age in which he lived and would no longer fit so easily into the scrutiny of our modern world.

Three stars

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amazon.co.uk

Booktopia (Australia)

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