Carole, Irving Wheeler, and Dorothy Ridste
During the Fall of 1933 Carole started dating twenty year old Irving Wheeler, a civilian conservation corps worker from Banning, California. At the time she was attending San Bernardino high school and working part-time at a hot dog stand. She described Irving as "a nice looking boy who had a crewcut and a jalopy." He was born Irvine Alexander Wheeler on November 5, 1913 in Stamford, Connecticut. His father, Bruce Wheeler, was a manufacturer and his mother, Irene Hurd Wheeler, was a housewife. After they divorced Irene married Jerome Decker, a dentist. Irving and his younger brother Paul moved to California to live with their father. Carole eloped with him on January 14, 1934 in Yuma, Arizona. Because she was only fifteen she lied about her age on the marriage license. When her mother Clara found out she had the marriage annulled and Irving was arrested for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor". The charges were dropped after he proved they were legally married. On August 25, 1934 the couple got married again. This time they had the consent of Carole's father Alfred Ridste. The young newlyweds moved into a one room apartment with no refrigerator.
Irving in 1938 (left) and in 1954 (right)
Carole and Irving's marriage license
After just three weeks of marriage she walked out on him. Irving eventually went to Hollywood and became an actor using the stage name Jack Robbins. In 1938 he sued Carole's boyfriend Busby Berkeley for $250,000 claiming "alienation of affection". The suit was dismissed and she officially divorced him on May 10, 1939. She told reporters "I didn't think anyone knew I'd ever been married. I thought Irving had forgotten our marriage, too. We lived together for three weeks and then had an argument. I've only seen him once since then, and that was when he told me he wanted a divorce." Carole got Irving a job as a stand-in on her 1942 film A Gentleman In Heart. He also spent several years working as Bob Hope's stand-in. Later he inherited a million dollar estate from his grandfather and was briefly engaged to singer Ella Mae Morse. In 1951 he was convicted of a narcotics charge and served eighteen months in jail. He was arrested again in April of 1954 and charged with possession of marijuana. During the late 1950s he moved to Pasadena, California and began studying to be a chef. At the time he was using the name Irving Decker. On January 26, 2007 he passed away at the age of ninety-four.
Irving with Bob Hope
