Conway Tearle (born Frederick Conway Levy, May 17, 1878 â€" October 1,
1938) was an American stage actor who went on to perform in silent and
early sound films.Tearle was born on May 17, 1878, in New York City,
the son of the well-known British-born cornetist Jules Levy
(1838â€"1903) and American actress Marianne “Minnie†Conway
(1852/54â€"1896). Tearle also had a sister, and a half-brother,
musician Jules Levy, Jr., from his father's previous marriage.
Minnie's mother was stage actress Sarah Crocker Conway. Minnie Conway
was a direct descendant of William Augustus Conway, a British
Shakespearean actor who became popular in America during the 1820s.
Her father, the proprietor of the Brooklyn Theatre, was said to have
organized the first stock company in America. After Tearle's parents
separated, his mother married Osmond Tearle (1852â€"1901), a British
Shakespearean actor popular in “the provinces†. Two half brothers,
Godfrey and Malcolm Tearle, were born from Marianne's marriage to
Osmond Tearle.Conway Levy was educated in England and America and took
to the stage at an early age. By the age of ten he could recite twelve
Shakespearean plays from memory. As an adult he adopted his
step-father's surname to become Conway Tearle. His big break came at
the age of twenty-one when in Manchester, England, without any
preparation, he was called upon to play Hamlet after the lead actor
took ill just prior to the first act.
1938) was an American stage actor who went on to perform in silent and
early sound films.Tearle was born on May 17, 1878, in New York City,
the son of the well-known British-born cornetist Jules Levy
(1838â€"1903) and American actress Marianne “Minnie†Conway
(1852/54â€"1896). Tearle also had a sister, and a half-brother,
musician Jules Levy, Jr., from his father's previous marriage.
Minnie's mother was stage actress Sarah Crocker Conway. Minnie Conway
was a direct descendant of William Augustus Conway, a British
Shakespearean actor who became popular in America during the 1820s.
Her father, the proprietor of the Brooklyn Theatre, was said to have
organized the first stock company in America. After Tearle's parents
separated, his mother married Osmond Tearle (1852â€"1901), a British
Shakespearean actor popular in “the provinces†. Two half brothers,
Godfrey and Malcolm Tearle, were born from Marianne's marriage to
Osmond Tearle.Conway Levy was educated in England and America and took
to the stage at an early age. By the age of ten he could recite twelve
Shakespearean plays from memory. As an adult he adopted his
step-father's surname to become Conway Tearle. His big break came at
the age of twenty-one when in Manchester, England, without any
preparation, he was called upon to play Hamlet after the lead actor
took ill just prior to the first act.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.