Vermilyea was born October 10, 1889, in Manhattan. He made his first stage appearance in 1914 in "The Lion and the Mouse." Subsequent appearances included "It Pays to Advertise" (1914-1915) and a revival of "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford" (1917), after which he served with the Army Ambulance Service in France during the First World War.[1]
After WWI came to a close, Vermilyea returned to the Broadway stage and performed in twenty-nine further plays. These were: "A Tailor-Made Man" (1917-1918), "Hobohemia" (1919), "Pagans" (1921), "Captain Applejack" (1921-1922), "The Alarm Clock" (1923-1924), "The Lady Killer" (1924), "The Haunted House" (1924), "The Youngest" (1924-1925), "The Enemy" (1925-1926), "Loose Ankles" (1926-1927), "Los Angeles" (1927-1928), "Killers" (1928), "Anna" (1928), "A Man With Red Hair" (1928), "Midnight" (1930-1931), "We Are No Longer Children" (1932), "Bad Manners" (1933), "The Pure in Heart" (1934), "Boy Meets Girl" (1935-1937), "Fulton of Oak Falls" (1937), "Madame Bovary" (1937), "If I Were You" (1938), "Gloriana" (1938), "Gabrielle" (1941), "Sun-Up" (presumably a revival of the Lula Vollmer play; date unknown), "The Acquittal" (presumably a revival of the Rita Weiman play; date unknown), "Jacobowsky and the Colonel" (1944-1945), "Deep Are the Roots" (1945-1946), and "Deadfall" (1955).[1][2][3]
Vermilyea had substantial roles in 1930s radio, supporting Maude Adams in a series and playing a leading role on the Rudy Vallée Show. During the World War II years, he served as Director of the American Theatre Wing's Victory Players.[1]
Vermilyea devoted his time in the post-war era to motion pictures and then to television. Ultimately, he died of an apparent heart attack at his apartment in Manhattan on January 8, 1958.[1]
