He was born on January 2, 1869, in Brooklyn, New York to Philip Bayard Veiller.

[1] He was married to English actress Margaret Wycherly from 1901 to 1922; their son, Anthony Veiller, was also a screenwriter.

Veiller first broke into Broadway theatre with The Primrose Path, a play that he wrote and produced.

It was a failure and left him broke,[2] although it later served as the basis for the 1920 film, Burnt Wings.

His later Broadway hits included The Thirteenth Chair and The Trial of Mary Dugan, which were adapted as films.