Flynn grew up in Hobart, Tasmania, and received further education in London and Sydney. For some time, he was seeking fortune in PNG (Papua New Guinea) in tobacco planting and metal mining. After being cast in the docu-drama "In the Wake of the Bounty" (1933), he travelled to Britain, pursuing a career in acting. While working in London, he was recommended for a contract to Warner Bros. in Hollywood. On the ship to the US, he met Lili Damita who he later married (she was five years his senior).