Ernest Gébler (31 December 1914Gebler 2013 p.21 – 26 January 1998), sometimes credited as Ernie Gebler, was an Irish writer of Czech origin. He was a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

Early life

Gébler was born in Dublin, one of the five children of Adolf (or Adolphe) Gébler, a shopkeeper and musician of

Czech Jewish The history of the Jews in the Czech lands, historically the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, including the modern Czech Republic (i.e. Bohemia, Moravia, and the southeast or Czech Silesia), goes back at least 1100 years. There is evidence that ...

origin who had married a Dublin theatre usherette. The family moved to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

in 1925. In 1930 Adolf got a job with a Dublin light opera company and Ernest followed the rest of the family there in 1931. Ernest worked backstage in the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

in the 1930s.

Later career

After his writing career took off with his first novel in 1946, Gébler enjoyed greater success with his novel ''The Plymouth Adventure'' (1950), which was made into a Hollywood film. He was first married to Leatrice Gilbert (1924–2015), daughter of the actors John Gilbert and

Leatrice Joy Leatrice Joy (born Leatrice Johanna Zeidler; November 7, 1893 – May 13, 1985) was an American actress most prolific during the silent film era. Early life Joy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to dentist Edward Joseph Zeidler. She at ...

, whom he met in Hollywood. The couple moved to Ireland, got married and were divorced in 1951 and she returned to America In Dublin in 1952 Gébler met future novelist

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. O'Brien's works often revolve around the inner feelings of women and their problems relating to men and soc ...

, then working in a pharmacist's shop.Kersnowski p.xvii After opposition from O'Brien's family, they moved to England, married in 1954, and made their home at Lake Park House, overlooking Lough Dan, in Co Wicklow. They had two sons, Karl (later Carlo) and Sasha, who became respectively a writer and an architect. The house was sold in 1955 to the poet Richard Murphy. It was Gébler who introduced O'Brien to her first publisher, Iain Hamilton of Hutchinson. Her literary career eclipsed Gébler's after her début novel '' The Country Girls'' in 1960.

Late personal life

The couple separated in 1964 and divorced in 1968, with O'Brien eventually gaining sole custody of the children. Both O'Brien and

Carlo Gébler Carlo Gébler (born 21 August 1954) is an Irish writer, television director, and teacher. His publications include novels, short stories, plays, historical works and memoirs. He is a member of Aosdána. Early life Gébler was born in Dublin, t ...

later wrote about Ernest's cruelty to the family. Gébler returned to Dublin in 1970, but also owned farmland near Lough Owel, and became friendly with his neighbour J. P. Donleavy. After a fall at home, Gébler was taken into care and his house in the Dublin suburb of

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

was sold. He spent the last seven years of his life at Grove Nursing Home in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

, Dublin, where he died in 1998 of a bronchial infection, after several years with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. He was 83.

Works

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Sources

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Citations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gebler, Ernest 1914 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish people 20th-century Irish screenwriters Aosdána members Deaths from bronchitis Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish people of Czech descent Irish people of Jewish descent Irish screenwriters Irish television writers Irish male television writers People of Czech-Jewish descent Writers from Dublin (city)