The expansive personality and style of speech seen in Brutus Jones was modeled on Adam Scott, an African-American and close friend of O'Neill's. Scott tended bar at O'Neill's favorite tavern, at the rear of Holt's Grocery on Main Street, in his hometown of New London, Connecticut.[5] In their biography of O'Neill, Arthur and Barbara Gelb report that,
Scott's imperious personality so impressed O'Neill that he later borrowed it for The Emperor Jones. While the play was also derived from other sources, it was Scott's bravado, his superstition and his religious convictions that imbued the character of Brutus Jones.[5]
