Conway Tearle - Marriages

Marriages

Conway Tearle married for the first time in 1901 at Sunderland, England. In 1908 Tearle filed for a divorce at Reno, Nevada on grounds of desertion, stating his wife, Gertrude Tearle, had left him several years earlier.

His second wife, actress Josephine Park sued for divorce In March, 1912 after learning Tearle had set sail for Italy aboard the S.S. Amerika with actress Roberta Hill. Roberta’s name had earlier appeared in print as a co-respondent in a divorce suit filed by the wife of John Jacob Astor.

Tearle’s third wife, Roberta Hill, filed for a divorce in 1917 after detectives she hired found him in a hotel room with Adele Rowland, a musical comedy actress and dancer. The two claimed they were just rehearsing a play as Rowland explained later, “As to the robe in which I was clad, it's the custom in the profession to read plays attired like that.”

The following February Tearle and Rowland wed; remaining together until his death some twenty years later. Adele Rowland was the former wife of actor Charles Ruggles and was well known at the time for introducing to America the song “Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag And Smile, Smile, Smile” which she sang in the 1915 musical Her Soldier Boy. Adele Rowland was born in Washington D.C. on July 10, 1883 and died in Los Angeles on August 8, 1971.