LONDON - Australian born Hollywood star Errol Flynn worked as an undercover agent for the Germans and met Adolf Hitler shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Flynn, who was known for his anti-Semitic views, worked undercover for the Germans during the Spanish Civil War, according to a controversial biography.

Charles Higham alleges that Flynn was employed to gather information on German socialists who fought against General Franco, helping contribute to the death of hundreds of volunteers and their families, The Telegraph reports.

He also claims that in 1938 Flynn met Hitler, who was an admirer of his films, at his Bavarian retreat

Higham, whose claims are partly based on analysis of declassified CIA files but have been challenged by other historians, said that the commemorations were inappropriate given the actor’s political activities.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that Flynn had Nazi sympathies and worked as a Nazi operative if not an actual agent. He was first noticed for his violently anti-British and pro-Nazi views as early as 1934 and there is little doubt his work for the Nazis resulted in people being killed,” the Daily Mail quoted Higham, as saying.

According to the biography, Flynn fell under the influence of a Hermann Erben, an Austrian doctor and Nazi party member, in the 1930s. They both travelled to Spain in 1937 where they fed information to the Gestapo, it is alleged.

The following year Flynn may even have attended a secret meeting with the Fuhrer at his Bavarian mountain retreat, according to Higham. (ANI)