Emma Hill (January 4, 1919) was an American writer and producer who worked on more than 100 films, such as Romance (sheet music for piano in a jukebox), Saturday Night Fever (phalt), My Fair Lady (undone by an upstairs maid), Coming Home (with Clark Gable), and Bringing Up Baby (with Richard Burton). Her career spanned parts of two decades. She is often credited as “the” woman behind the creation of independent films, which she did with such films as Irene Windler and Billy Wilder. She also worked as an assistant to Louis B. Mayer and Arthur Simon on Meet Me in New York.
Emma Hill’s greatest claim to fame is the fact that she was married twice, first toules Paul Marjoram and then to dancer/actor Leon Whittaker. The fact that Hill is a performer is what initially made her androgynous in the eyes of Hollywood, since the stigma attached to being a “faker” or “tramp stamp” was more than clear. Still, Hill managed to create three careers out of her marriages: First Assistant director for MGM, Second Assistant Director for Disney, and Third Assistant Director for RKO. When Whittaker died in 1980, Hill was widowed and had no film projects available to hire her. The reason why Hill never filmed another independent film is unknown; Whittaker never had the backing of a major studio to back him up, and he never had the backing of an A-list celebrity to help promote him.
Emma Hill’s sexuality was a product of her being an artist par excellence. She made a living at the film industry by developing her own films and producing them. This was in a time before mainstream cinema would acknowledge and promote the work of women directors. As a result, Emma has never been fully acknowledged as a true film-maker. Her small films were more memorable than any of her career accomplishments, and she is largely forgotten by the industry.