Conway underwent cataract surgery during the winter of 1964–1965. In September 1965, he briefly returned to the headlines, having been discovered living in a $2-a-day room in a Venice, Los Angeles flophouse. Gifts, contributions, and offers of aid poured in for a time. Conway estimated he had earned $900,000 in his career, but was broke. "I don't particularly want to act", he said. He said he lost his last $15,000 to swindlers in a lumber deal. Lew Ayres paid his rent.