KINGSTON, Jamaica — Patrice Wymore had appeared in a handful of Hollywood B movies when she first came to Portland with her husband, actor Errol Flynn, in the early 1950s.

Their celebrity helped put the eastern Jamaica parish on the international map, similar to what James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s profile did for neighbouring St Mary.

Wymore-Flynn died last Saturday at her home in Castle, Portland at age 87, closing a romantic period in the parish’s history.

That era started in 1946 when the Australia-born Errol Flynn arrived in Port Antonio. According to local lore, his yacht Zaca was washed ashore by a storm.

The star of Hollywood blockbusters like Dodge City and The Adventures of Robin Hood, he died of a heart attack in 1959, leaving Wymore-Flynn, his third wife, to run their 2000-acre estate.

She had parts in movies like 1950’s Rocky Mountain (which her husband starred) and Tea for Two and was still performing as a cabaret singer in the United States up to the 1980s.

But for over 50 years, Kansas-born Wymore-Flynn was a Portland fixture. She was involved in tourism (the Flynns once owned the Titchfield Hotel), ran a wicker business, produced a guava jam and reared cattle.

Journalist/businesswoman and long time Portland resident Marguerite Gauron knew Wymore-Flynn for over 30 years. She described her as a “controversial icon” who contributed much to her adopted home.

“Mrs Flynn never refused any press opportunity to ‘big up’ the parish of Portland internationally, even through the most difficult periods,” said Gauron.

“The very fact that she regarded Jamaica as her home and worked from here for nearly 60 years added to the Hollywood/tourism mystique and its reputation as the safest parish in Jamaica.”

But Hugh Perry, second vice-president of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, differs. He believes her impact is overstated.

“Errol Flynn made a great contribution, and when he died she maintained what was there. She was a hard worker but she really just eked out an existence,” Perry said.

The Flynn legacy lives on in Portland through their grandson Luke, a former model who has spent more time there in recent years.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer last year, Luke Flynn said he was concerned about Portland’s high illiteracy rate and expressed interest in helping to improve this area.

The Flynn family has not yet announced funeral arrangements for its matriarch.