Background
Ellen Maud O"Shea was born in London, England to Irish parents in 1882.
Ellen Maud O"Shea was born in London, England to Irish parents in 1882.
Nell Emerald appeared in Brightonia films as well as working behind the camera as producer. Nell Emerald acted in silent films through the 1910s and 1920s, including a 1921 adaptation of Thomas Hardy"s The Mayor of Casterbridge. Hardy himself visited the set of this production, though he never saw the finished work.
Among her other silent films were The Grip of Iron (1914), A Bold Adventuress (1915), Fires of Innocence (1922), Chester Forgets Himself (1924, and adaptation of a story by P G Wodehouse), and A Girl of London (1925).
Emerald produced sound films in the 1930s. Among the titles she produced were Murder at the Cabaret (1936), Terror on Tiptoe (1936), and Doctor Sin Fang (1937), all low-budget thrillers.
She also produced and appeared in Chinatown Nights (1938), a film later called "indescribably bad" by one critic. She also co-wrote at least one screenplay that was produced, This Week of Grace (1933), a recently rediscovered comedy starring Gracie Fields.