Born in Sandusky, Ohio. The son of an Episcopalian minister, he planned to follow in his father's footsteps but was sidetracked by the stage and became a Broadway actor and later a stage manager and a director. In 1912 he began writing screenplays and appearing in occasional screen productions. In 1915 he joined the Triangle company, where under the supervision of D.W. Griffith he directed some of Douglas Fairbanks' early pictures. He also wrote the screenplays for several of these in collaboration with his wife (from 1919 until his death in 1956), Anita Loos (1888-1981). Their frothy scripts helped guide Fairbanks' style in the direction of social satire and shape the star's screen image for the remainder of his career. Emerson also directed such female stars as Norma and Constance Talmadge and gave Erich Von Stroheim his first important opportunity as actor and assistant director. In the mid-20s he gave up directing for screenwriting and collaborated with Loos on, among other pictures, the adaptation of her play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He also produced several films and, in collaboration with his wife, wrote two books: How to Write Photoplays (1920) and Breaking Into Movies (1922). He also wrote many magazine articles on film.    Nominated for Best Picture 1936: SAN FRANCISCO - Producer (w. Bernard H. Hyman) 1 nomination