Richard Emory (January 27, 1919 – February 15, 1994) was an American actor born in Santa Barbara, California.
He was the oldest son of Silent Film celebrity couple - Emory Johnson and Ella Hall.
Emory retired from show business in 1963 and would spend the rest of his life working odd jobs.
Hall's last movie before giving birth to Emory Waldemar was Three Mounted Men, released on October 7, 1918.
While Ella and the kids were crossing a busy street in Hollywood, Emory Waldemar's 5-year-old brother Alfred was struck and killed by a truck.
Since 1924, Emory Waldemar's parents had publicly battled over alimony payments, child support, visitation, and living conditions.
Hall started a sales job at the upscale ladies' dress shop, I. Magnin, to support her three children.
At age ten, Emory Waldemar had an uncredited role in the 1930 Universal production of All Quiet on the Western Front released on April 21, 1930.
[5] Emory's sister, Ellen Joanna, age seven, claimed she played a young girl in the same movie.
He recalls his small part in All Quiet on the Western Front and his mother's role, playing an uncredited nurse.
In North Hollywood, Emory Johnson Jr. stood in line to register at Selective Service Local Board 179.
Other stars signing up at the local board included Henry Fonda, Don Ameche, Lon Chaney Jr., and Robert Taylor.
His draft card shows Johnson lived in North Hollywood, was twenty-one, six feet tall, weighed one hundred-sixty-two pounds, and had blue eyes and blond hair.
In an interview published in The Encyclopedia of Feature Players of Hollywood, Volume 1, Johnson stated, "When he was about eleven years old, he accompanied his mother to the set of All Quiet on the Western Front.
[6] While Johnson served in the Marines, Ellen Hall made her cinematic debut with an uncredited part in the musical The Chocolate Soldier, released on October 31, 1941.
After his discharge from the marines on September 12, 1945, Johnson took a job in the wholesale florist business in San Francisco.
"[13] When he left Gilliard's Playhouse, his "rugged good looks" landed him a job as a runway and media model.
He used modeling to supplement his income because of the lack of receiving a steady pay check generated from movie parts.
"[14] Johnson returned to the movie business with his first credited role in South of Death Valley, released on August 8, 1949.
Emory acted in various movie genres, including adventure, comedy, science fiction, Westerns, and musicals.
These films included Code of the Silver Sage, Gene Autry and the Mounties, Little Big Horn, Hellgate and Perils of the Wilderness.
He made ten straight westerns starting in 1949 with South of Death Valley and finishing with Perils of the Wilderness released in January 1956.
"If I thought it was a great house I could sell it," Johnson stated, but his wife added, "He was just as inclined to say 'I don't think you'd like this', so that was that.
The move explains why Johnson is listed on the "Brief Biographies of Latter Day Saint and Utah Film Personalities" website.
The listing is based on being a Film Personality living in Utah, not necessarily being a member of the LDS church.
Richard met his second wife while on location for the movie Gene Autry and the Mounties released in January 1951.
[23] Emory Waldemar Johnson married his second wife, Margaret L. Lafontaine Besancon, in Los Angeles, California, on January 26, 1952.
Emory Waldemar Johnson married his third wife Ila Irene Ferguson in Los Angeles, California, on February 7, 1960.
Unlike his parents and two siblings, he chose not to be interred with the rest of the family at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
[26] Emory's father died in San Mateo, California on April 18, 1960 from burns suffered in a fire.