Gilbert Emery

Gilbert Emery Bensley Pottle, who worked professionally under the name Gilbert Emery, was born on June 11, 1875, in Naples, New York, to William L. and Hariette (Gilbert) Pottle. He attended Naples High School and the Normal School in Oneonta, New York, before earning a degree from Amherst College with the class of 1899. He died on October 28, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, and is buried at Rose Ridge Cemetery in Naples, New York.

Following his graduation from Amherst, Emery spent a year as an instructor in English and public speaking at Beloit Academy in Wisconsin. He then pursued journalism in New York City, working as a reporter for the Morning Sun in 1900, followed by positions at the Evening Post from 1900 to 1901 and Criterion Magazine from 1901 to 1903. He subsequently taught English at Columbia University. During this period he produced early written work under the name Emery Pottle, including books such as Handicapped, The Little Village, and The Little House, as well as poems and short stories for magazines.

During World War I, Emery served with the American Expeditionary Forces' Liaison Service, attached to French Balloon Companies 39, 49, and 74. He was a member of the Paris Peace Conference from 1918 to 1919 and served on the Interallied Food Commission in 1919. Among the writing he produced during the war was a poem titled Wounded Soldier at Montauville.

Emery's Broadway career as a playwright began in 1921 with The Hero, which ran in March 1921 and again from September through November of that year, and was later revived in 2014. His play Tarnish followed in October 1923, running through May 1924. Episode, in which Emery also acted, opened in February 1925. Love in a Mist ran from April through July 1926, with Emery serving as both author and director. A production titled Say When, which opened in June 1928, was based on a play by Emery. Housewarming opened in April 1932, and Far-Away Horses, which Emery also staged, ran in March 1933. His Broadway activity as a performer spanned from 1922 to 1932 and included appearances in Housewarming, Far-Away Horses, Episode, The Hero, and Love in a Mist, among other productions.

Alongside his stage work, Emery appeared in at least 88 films between 1921 and his death in 1945. On November 22, 1904, he married Juliet Wilbour Tompkins, a writer, in New York, under the name Emery Pottle; Tompkins filed for divorce in March 1905.