Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 57 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 57: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s satirical magazine) contains gossip items mocking Hollywood actors' financial mismanagement and marital chaos. The main target is actor **Conway Tearle**, once earning $1,750 weekly in films but now broke and unable to pay alimony. The satire highlights the absurdity of his situation: despite years of high income, he saved nothing and now faces competing alimony claims from multiple ex-wives (Josephine Park, Adele Rowland). The courts had to arbitrate, reducing Josephine's demand from $500 to $75 weekly. Now unemployed, he claims he cannot pay even that. The shorter item about **Eleanor Dowler** divorcing art director Ervin Martin after one day of marriage—claiming she was too intoxicated at a party to know what she was doing—satirizes Hollywood's reckless lifestyle and impulsive decisions. Both items mock actors as financially irresponsible and emotionally unstable despite their wealth and prominence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 55 John Bonner who was on General Wood's staff. Eleanor Dowler is divorcing Ervin Martin, art director for the Pickford-Fairbanks studios, having lived with said husband exactly one day. The wife claims that the drinkables passed around at a party given by Allan Dwan made her forget everything and that when she woke up she found she had married Martin. * * * JUST to prove how careless actors become with real money, Conway Tearle now announces he is broke. For years he has been one of the most successful leading men of the stage. His film salary was $1,750 a week for four years. Conway saved "nuthin'." These facts all came out last week when Conway went into court in New York to ask that one of his ex-wives alimony be abolished as he couldn't pay it. Tearle was first married to Josephine Park, who was awarded $25 a week alimony. He next married Mrs. Robert Corwin-Menges-Hill who got no alimony. When Tearle began to earn big money in the films, Josephine pounced down upon him and asked for $500 a week. Tearle married Adele Rowland about that time, so the courts decided that Adele had first claims and that Josephine should have only $75 a week. Now Tearle claims he can't pay $75, or support Adele or take care of himself as he is out of a job. Two years ago Tearle and Tommy Meighan