{{short description|American film actor}} {{Infobox person |name = Jerry Miley |image = Chicago Tribune Sun Nov 28 1926 page 124 (cropped).jpg |caption = Miley (right) with Carmel Myers, 1926 |birth_name = Emmor Jerome Miley Jr. |birth_date = {{birth date|1899|07|28}} |birth_place = Alameda, California, U.S. |death_date = {{death date and age|1979|06|11|1899|07|28}} |death_place = Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |occupation = Film actor |spouse = {{marriage|Elsa Petersen|1932||end=annulled}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/689008318/|title=Actor Would Annul Mexican Marriage|work=Daily News|location=New York, New York|date=August 19, 1933|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=11|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}</ref> }}
'''Emmor Jerome Miley Jr.''' (July 28, 1899 – June 11, 1979) was an American film actor.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380660808/|title=Screen Actor Miley Ill With Pneumonia|work=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|date=September 29, 1927|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=27|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}</ref> He was known for playing the murdered heir Allen Colby in the 1936 film ''Charlie Chan's Secret''.<ref name="a">{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Thrills_Untapped_2/-1dnEQAAQBAJ?hl=en|title=Thrills Untapped 2: More Discoveries for Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movie Fans, 1928-1936|page=35|first=Michael|last=Pitts|publisher=McFarland|date=June 19, 2025|ISBN=9781476695495|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="b" />
== Life and career == Miley was born in Alameda, California, the son of Emmor Jerome Sr., an oil businessman,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/701678993/|title=Man Who Drilled Rich LA Oil Finds Dies In Selma|work=The Fresno Bee|location=Fresno, California|date=August 31, 1954|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=20|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and Beatrice Miley. He began his screen career in 1926, appearing in the film ''Wild Oats Lane''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380751360/|title=Jerry Miley In It|work=The Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles, California|date=November 17, 1925|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=29|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}</ref> In the same year, he appeared in the films ''Broken Hearts of Hollywood'' and ''Bred in Old Kentucky''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/853621738/|title=Amusu Theatre|work=The Natchitoches Enterprise|location=Natchitoches, Louisiana|date=April 7, 1927|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=5|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}</ref>
Later in his career, in 1936, Miley appeared in the film ''Charlie Chan's Secret'', playing Allen Colby, the murdered heir and nephew of Henrietta Colby Lowell (Henrietta Crosman).<ref name="a" /><ref name="b">{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Charlie_Chan_at_the_Movies/Dnq4DgAAQBAJ?hl=en|title=Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism|page=58|first=Ken|last=Hanke|publisher=McFarland|date=January 14, 2011|ISBN=9780786486618|via=Google Books}}</ref> He appeared in films such as ''Pajamas'' (as Russell Forrest), ''Paris in Spring'', ''The Foxes of Harrow'', ''Nightmare Alley'', ''Down Among the Sheltering Palms'', ''Fury at Furnace Creek'', ''One in a Million'' and ''Rock Island Trail''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Within_Our_Gates/bsoUXGZSxZcC?hl=en|title=Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960|page=1336|first=Alan|last=Gevinson|publisher=University of California Press|date=1997|ISBN=9780520209640|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Miley retired from acting in 1952, last appearing in the film ''Les Misérables'', starring Michael Rennie, Debra Paget, Robert Newton and Edmund Gwenn.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Paramount_Pretties/f3VZAAAAMAAJ?hl=en|title=The Paramount Pretties|first=James Robert|last=Parrish|publisher=Arlington House|date=1972|pages=289–290|ISBN=9780870001802|via=Google Books}}</ref>
== Death == Miley died on June 11, 1979, in Santa Barbara, California, at the age of 79. He was buried at Santa Barbara Cemetery.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1192218139/|title=Miley, Emmor Miley|work=Santa Barbara News-Press|location=Santa Barbara, California|date=June 12, 1979|access-date=July 22, 2025|page=25|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Closed access}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|0587319}} *{{TCM name|131577}} *[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/jerry_miley/ Rotten Tomatoes profile]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miley, Jerry}} Category:1899 births Category:1979 deaths Category:Male actors from Alameda, California Category:American male film actors Category:American male silent film actors Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Burials at Santa Barbara Cemetery