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Described by one Broadway critic as "the sweetest, dearest, brightest and most genuine child," John Tansey appeared in films as early as 1908. From a well-known theatrical family (mother Emma Tansey née Purcell, and brothers Sheridan and Robert Emmett Tansey were also in films), young John joined Adele de Garde and Gladys Eagan as the reigning child stars of the old Biograph company at East 14th in New York City. Due to Biograph's tradition of never billing actors, the kids' real names remained unknown to moviegoers, who nevertheless applauded their every appearance. Leaving Biograph around 1910, Tansey later ventured west, where he starred in several films, including the 1917 pirate melodrama Barnaby Lee, but young adulthood more or less ruined his career. In 1930, Tansey co-wrote and co-directed (with brother Robert Emmett Tansey) the Jack Perrin Western Romance of the West and he was listed as producer on Riders on the Rio (1931), a very low-budget Lane Chandler oater.