John Emery (May 20, 1905 – November 16, 1964) was an American stage, film, radio and television actor.
Early years
Born in New York City, Emery was the son of stage actors Edward Emery (c. 1861 – 1938) and Isabel Waldron (1871–1950). He was educated at Long Island’s La Salle Military Academy.
Film
Through the late 1930s to the early 1960s he appeared in supporting roles in many Hollywood films, beginning with James Whale’s The Road Back (1937) and ranging from Alfred Hitchcock’s Spellbound to Rocketship X-M.
Stage
Emery appeared on Broadway in John Brown (1934), Romeo and Juliet (1934-1935), The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1935), Flowers of the Forest (1935), Parnell (1935-1936), Alice Takat (1936), Sweet Aloes (1936), Hamlet (1936-1937), Antony and Cleopatra (1937), Save Me the Waltz (1938), The Unconquered (1940), Liliom (1940), Retreat to Pleasure (1940-1941), Angel Street (1941-1944), Peepshow (1944), The Relapse (1950), The Royal Family (1951), The Constant Wife (1951-1952), Anastasia (1954-1955), Hotel Paradiso (1957), and Rape of the Belt (1960).
Peepshow was the first production in which Emery and his second wife, Tamara Geva, appeared together.
Television and radio
Emery was also known for his television work, appearing on programs like I Love Lucy and Have Gun Will Travel. In 1946 he starred in a radio program as detective Philo Vance.
Personal life
Emery married Patricia Calvert in 1926, ending in divorce in 1929, before his film career. He married Tallulah Bankhead on August 31, 1937 in Jasper, Alabama (her only marriage), divorcing on June 13, 1941 in Reno, Nevada. The two remained friendly after their marriage. In 1942, Emery married dancer Tamara Geva, divorcing in 1963. Emery had started a long-term relationship with actress Joan Bennett in 1961, who cared for him through his final illness and death in 1964.
Due to their resemblance, Emery often was rumoured to be the illegitimate child of John Barrymore. As a child, Emery roomed for a while with Barrymore and his first wife, Katherine Corri.
Death
Emery died on November 16, 1964 in New York City, aged 59.
