In the title compound, C(21)H(25)NO(3), the hydro-pyridine ring that constitutes a part of the hexa-hydro-quinoline fused-ring system adopts a sofa conformation; the methine C atom deviates from the least-squares plane defined by the remaining five non-H atoms (r.m.s. deviation = 0.088 Å) by 0.454 (3) Å. The phenyl ring is aligned at 85.5 (1)° with respect to this mean plane. In the crystal, adjacent molecules are linked via an N-H⋯O hydrogen bond, involving the amino group and the carbonyl O atom of the fused-ring system, forming chains running along [100]. The ethyl group is disordered over two positions in a 0.609 (6):0.391 (6) ratio.