Roberto O'Quigley was a director, writer, and screenwriter. Born in Spry Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, he moved to the United States with his family at the age of five and later settled in Los Angeles, California. He began his career in Hollywood under the names Bob or Bobby Quigley, writing screenplays for western films. While working as a magazine journalist, he met Mexican actor Emilio Fernández, who invited him to work in Mexico. There, O'Quigley adapted the screenplay for the 1934 film Janitzio and adopted the name Roberto O'Quigley, which he continued to use throughout his career in Mexican cinema.