American actor, acrobat, and stuntman who was a veteran circus performer, clown, and aerialist.
He later gave his date of birth as 05 July, with the year given varying depending on the record. 06 July 1876 is given on an actual birth registration record filed in 1878.
On his World War I draft registration card (12 Sep 1918), he is a moving picture actor with the L-KO studio. In early 1921, he was working for Fox. A 1934 press photo notes that DeComa "has spent fifty years under the 'big top'"; at that time, he was working in a carnival scene in "Ruggles of Red Gap."
During the 1910s, DeComa performed in vaudeville as part of the tumbling duo "Cornalla & Wilbur" (first name also spelled "Cornella" and "Conalla"). In June 1914, DeComa was arrested in San Diego, California after a "Cornalla & Wilbur" performance and charged with assaulting a 15-year old girl named Salome Harrison in the property room of the Savoy, the local Pantages vaudeville theatre where the duo was performing at the time. Per Variety: "He denies the charge, as preferred, saying he had only begun to make love to the girl when his act was called and he had to leave her." He was held in the county jail, with bail set at $2,000 (equivalent to over $60,000 in 2023). Four months later, the charge was dropped by the District Attorney. Per Variety: "Friel [sic] secured bail, but the girl was held as a witness in the detention home. She changed testimony several times, finally admitting duress had not been used against her. The case had gone before one jury, which disagreed."
He passed away in a Los Angeles rest home from metastatic cancer, primarily of the liver, which had spread to his stomach, pancreas, and mesentery.
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