Conway Tearle — Blue Book of the Screen (1923) 🇺🇸

Conway Tearle was born in New York in 1880. He was educated in Amherst College and studied to become a lawyer. For several years as a junior member he practiced before the bar, but was finally attracted to the stage, and in 1910 he entered upon a theatrical career.

Mr. Tearle had a hard time at first, only playing small parts, but finally he worked his way up until he was given leading roles. Before the footlights he appeared in support of such well-known stars as Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke, Viola Allen, Ellen Terry and Grace George. After playing on the stage for several years with great success, he was turned to a screen career. He made his debut in the silent drama with Marguerite Clark in “Helene of the North.”

In 1915 he was engaged by Lewis J. Selznick to play opposite Clara Kimball Young in “The Common Law.” This picture was one of the hits of the day, and Tearle made such an impression that he was engaged for several other pictures by Selznick, among the best known being “The Foolish Virgin,” “The Reason Why.” “She Loves and Lies” and “The Way of a Woman,” the latter two being Norma Talmadge productions.

The star then worked two years as a free-lance leading man, playing opposite Mary Pickford in “Stella Maris,” Anita Stewart in “Virtuous Wives,” Constance Talmadge in “The Virtuous Vamp,” etc. His first starring production was “The Road of Ambition.” This was followed by such well-known successes as “Society Snobs,” “The Fighter,” “Bucking the Tiger,” “The Referee,” “A Wide-Open Town,” “The Man of Stone,” “Shadows of the Sea.”

After playing for a season on the stage, he again returned to the Selznick fold. Under this new contract he has made two of the greatest productions of his career — “One Week of Love,” in which he was costarred with Elaine Hammerstein, and a new version of “The Common Law,” in which he played the same role he had previously portrayed opposite Clara Kimball Young. However, in this version, Corinne Griffith played the role of the model.

Mr. Tearle is five feet ten inches tall, has black hair and brown eyes. He married Adele Rowland, famous musical comedy star.

His favorite sports are tennis and swimming.

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No role can be too extreme for Conway Tearle to portray. In one production he appears as a member of royalty in a mythical kingdom —

— while in another he is a villainous character in a Western film.

Portrait by Witzel • Los Angeles

Collection: The Blue Book of the Screen (1923)