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On stage from the age of four, Robert Emmett Tansey was the son of vaudevillians John Tansey and Emma Tansey (née Purcell). Young Tansey made his screen debut at the age of 14 in 1911, but adolescence raised its ugly head and he returned to the legitimate stages. He was back in harness after World War I (using the names Al Lane or Bert Tansey), and later gained a modicum of fame as a true jack-of-all-trades, low-budget style. Using several variations of his given name, including Robert Emmett and Bob Tansey, Tansey went on to supervise, assistant direct, direct, write, produce, and even compose the scores of low-budget Westerns and action melodramas, working with very little other than gusto and a remarkable ability to churn them out fast and furious. Never candidates for any awards, Tansey's films were high on action but low on credibility, thespian prowess, bankable stars, and other Hollywood niceties. Yet he worked continuously between the dawn of sound and the early '50s, often employing brothers Sherry Tansey (aka James Sheridan) and John Tansey, and mother Emma Tansey.