Ralph Emerson

Biography

Ralph Emerson was born Walter William Emerson on August 9, 1899 in Kalispell, Montana. He was the nephew of poet Ralph Waldp Emerson. Ralph moved to California to pursue his acting career. He was discovered while starring in a Los Angeles stage production of Alias The Deacon. In 1923 he made his film debut in the drama The Face on the Bar-Room Floor. At the start of his career he was billed as Walter Emerson. He married Jane N. Sholtz on December 25, 1922. The couple had three children. Ralph appeared in more than a dozen films including The Albany Night Boat, Dance Hall, and West Point. By the early 1930s his movie career had stalled and he returned to the stage. Ralph made headlines in 1935 when his wife Jane filed for divorce. She accused him of having affairs with actress Olive Borden and several other women. Then Ralph accused Jane of cheating on him with millionaire Barton Sewell. In a 1937 interview Ralph admitted that Jane divorced him because "she had found out about Olive Borden and me in New York and St. Louis.". His final film was the 1940 musical A Night at Earl Carroll's. He later moved to Indiana. Ralph died on February 22, 1984 at the age of eighty-four.