[1] They took him on tour when he was only three weeks old and gave him the occasional turn on the stage during his childhood, which was always on the move and disrupted, creating problems for the future but setting the scene for eventually going into showbusiness himself.

However, because of family problems, he returned to London, joining the chorus line of The Merry Widow at the Majestic Theatre, although he was subsequently recognised, arrested and imprisoned.

He was recruited by Ralph Reader into the RAF Gang Show to entertain air and ground crew at bases in Great Britain.

[1] He also auditioned for various parts and in 1952 he starred in a role in a 15-minute Radio Luxembourg series on Saturdays at 7.00pm called Chance of a Lifetime.

Emery also made a guest appearance on the popular BBC radio programme The Goon Show, replacing regular cast member Harry Secombe for one episode in 1957.

[1] He enhanced his reputation on two series with former Goon Michael Bentine: After Hours (ITV, 1958–59) and It's a Square World (BBC, 1960–64).

[5] In a sporadic film career he made his debut in the Goons' The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (directed by Joseph Sterling, 1954).

[1] He also played bungling bank robber Booky Binns in The Big Job (directed by Gerald Thomas, 1965) and was known for vocal talents as an array of characters including "The Nowhere Man" Jeremy Hillary Boob, the Mayor of Pepperland and Max, one of the Blue Meanies in the Beatles' Yellow Submarine directed by George Dunning, in 1968.

[1] Emery appeared in films as Shingler in The Fast Lady (1962), as Peter Sellers's neighbour in The Wrong Arm Of The Law, as Harry in Baby Love (1968), as Mr Bateman in Loot (1970) and Ooh… You Are Awful (1972), in which he played many of the characters he had portrayed in his TV series.

While working in summer season in 1950, at the Winter Gardens in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, he met Iris Margaret Tully, who was also in the show.

He was torn between the two women, but in late 1958 he left Iris and moved to Thames Ditton in Surrey to set up home.

His last wife was Josephine Blake[9] to whom he was still married at the time of his death, although he had left her to live with Fay Hillier, an actress 30 years his junior.

While the public took him to heart, voting him BBC TV Personality of the Year in 1972, Emery suffered from severe stage fright and low self-esteem.