George Thomas Moore Marriott (14 September 1885GRO Register of Births: DEC 1885 3a 23 UXBRIDGE – George Thomas M. Marriott – 11 December 1949GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1949 5h 530 CHICHESTER – George T. M. Marriott) was an English character actor best remembered for the series of films he made with Will Hay. His first appearance with Hay was in the film Dandy Dick (1935), becoming a significant supporting performer in Hay's films from 1936 to 1940, during which time he played an elderly character called "Jeremiah Harbottle". Marriot had first played the Harbottle character in the 1920s, when the character was created by Hay for his "The Fourth Form at St. Michael's" stage and radio sketches (which were subsequently released on Columbia Records).
Career
Marriott was born at Alpha Place, Yiewsley, Middlesex, on 14 September 1885, the son of George Matthew Marriott (1859–1940), who was then a commercial traveller, and his wife, Edith Rousby, née Coleman (1864–1946). His parents were actors, and his father became a theatrical manager. Moore Marriott made his stage debut at the age of five. He had originally intended to train as an architect, but instead he became an actor in films. Rather like Wilfrid Brambell and Clive Dunn later, he became typecast as playing old men when he was still relatively young. He had a special set of artificial teeth which he would put in to play his 'old man' characters. He had no teeth in real life and took four different sets of false teeth with him to achieve variety in his characters.
Although he made 131 film appearances from 1912, today he is best known as old "Harbottle" in a number of comedy films he made with Will Hay and Graham Moffatt, including Oh, Mr Porter! (1937), Ask a Policeman (1939), and as Jerry the Mole in Convict 99 (1938). It was during the filming of Hay's film Dandy Dick (1935) - where Marriott played an uncredited stableboy - that he first suggested that Hay should be a straight man to his old-man Harbottle character, a dynamic which was introduced the following year in Hay's 1936 film Windbag the Sailor along with Graham Moffatt.
Following the dissolution of the partnership with Will Hay, he continued to play his Harbottle-type character alongside Graham Moffatt in two films with the comedian Arthur Askey - namely I Thank You (1941) and Back-Room Boy (1942) - with a solo appearance as Jerry alongside the Crazy Gang in the 1941 movie Gasbags. His other film appearances included Millions Like Us (1943) and Green for Danger (1946).
Death In his later years, Marriott kept a grocer's store in Bognor Regis, and it is where he died on 11 December 1949; only eight months after the death of his comedy partner Will Hay. Cause of death was cardiac syncope, acute pulmonary oedema and chronic myocardiac degeneration caused by earlier pneumonia. He outlived his mother and his father by merely three years and nine years respectively. Moore Marriott on the Will Hay Tribute Site He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, where his ashes were also interred.
Legacy The Will Hay Appreciation Society was founded in 2009 by British artist Tom Marshall, and aims to preserve the legacy of Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt and to bring their work to a new generation of fans. As of October 2023, the organisation had over 8000 members. The society unveiled a memorial bench to Will Hay, Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt in October 2018, in Cliddesden, Hampshire the filming location for Oh, Mr. Porter!. The bench was unveiled by Pete Waterman.
On 14 September 2024, the 139th anniversary of Marriott's birth, the Will Hay Appreciation Society unveiled a memorial plaque to Moore Marriott on his final home in Bognor Regis. The plaque was unveiled by comic actor Bob Golding and the event was presented by society founder Tom Marshall.
Selected filmography
A Maid of the Alps (1912, Short) By the Shortest of Heads (1915, Short) - Capt. Fields Grim Justice (1916) - Grandfather Transom The Grip of Iron (1920) - Smiler Mary Latimer, Nun (1920) - Dickey Stubbs The Winding Road (1920) - Jed Sterrett Three Men in a Van (1921) - Mudley The Head of the Family (1922) - Mate The Monkey's Paw (1923) - John White Lawyer Quince (1924, Short) - Quince Dixon's Return (1924, Short) - Bob Dixon The Conspirators (1924) - Morris / Sydney Barnes The Mating of Marcus (1924) - Reverend Cheffins Ordeal by Golf (1924, Short) - Reverend Heeza Jones Not for Sale (1924) - Solicitor Afraid of Love (1925) - Father Confessions (1925) - Hardy King of the Castle (1925) - Peter Coffin The Gold Cure (1925) - Janbois Every Mother's Son (1926) - Nobby The Qualified Adventurer (1926) - Bosun London Love (1926) - Aaron Levinsky Passion Island (1927) - Beppo Second to None (1927) - Bill Hyde The Silver Lining (1927) - Gypsy Carry On (1927) - Mick Trevorn Huntingtower (1927) - Speidel Victory (1928) - Seth Lee Toni (1928) - Meyer Sweeney Todd (1928) - Sweeney Todd Widecombe Fair (1928) - Uncle Tom Cobleigh Kitty (1929) - Workman (uncredited) Mr. Smith Wakes Up (1929, Short) - Mr. Smith The Lady from the Sea (1929) - Old Roberts The Flying Scotsman (1929) - Bob White Kissing Cup's Race (1930) - Joe Tricker Aroma of the South Seas (1931, Short) - The King The Speckled Band (1931) - Member of Jury (uncredited) The Lyons Mail (1931) - Choppard Dance Pretty Lady (1931) - Mr. Raeburn Up for the Cup (1931) - James Hardcastle The Crooked Lady (1932) - Crabby The Water Gipsies (1932) - Mr. Pewtar Nine till Six (1932) - Doorman Mr. Bill the Conqueror (1932) - Tom Turtle The Sign of Four (1932) - Mordecai Smith (uncredited) Heroes of the Mine (1932) - Gaffer The Wonderful Story (1932) - Zacky Richards Little Waitress (1932) - Baron Halfsburg The Crime at Blossoms (1933) - Driver Money for Speed (1933) - Shorty A Moorland Tragedy (1933, Short) - The Old Man Dora (1933, Short) - Thomas Henry Jones The House of Trent (1933) - Ferrier Lucky Blaze (1933) - Sir James Benson Love's Old Sweet Song (1933) - Old Tom Hawleys of High Street (1933) - Mr. Busworth A Political Party (1934) - Jim Turner Faces (1934) - Robert Pelham Girls, Please! (1934) - Oldest Inhabitant Nell Gwyn (1934) - Robin The Scoop (1934) - Jim Stewart The Feathered Serpent (1934) - Harry Hugg Dandy Dick (1935) - Stableboy (uncredited) Drake of England (1935) - Bright The Man Without a Face (1935) - Tinker John Turn of the Tide (1935) - Tindal Fosdyck Gay Old Dog (1935) - George Bliss It's a Bet (1935) - Farmer (uncredited) When Knights Were Bold (1936) - The Tramp Strange Cargo (1936) - Captain Burch Wednesday's Luck (1936) - Nobby The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936) - Edwards (uncredited) As You Like It (1936) - Denis (uncredited) Luck of the Turf (1936) - Mr. Jackson Talk of the Devil (1936) - Dart Thrower (uncredited) Accused (1936) - Dubec Windbag the Sailor (1936) - Jeremiah Harbottle Feather Your Nest (1937) - Mr. Jenkins Fifty-Shilling Boxer (1937) - Tim Regan The Fatal Hour (1937) - Dixon Night Ride (1937) - Miner (scenes deleted) Victoria the Great (1937) - Train Driver Oh, Mr Porter! (1937) - Jeremiah Harbottle Intimate Relations (1937) - Toomley Owd Bob (1938) - Samuel Held for Ransom (1938) - Hathaway Convict 99 (1938) - Jerry, The Mole Old Bones of the River (1938) - Jerry Harbottle A Girl Must Live (1939) - Bretherton Hythe Ask a Policeman (1939) - Harbottle Cheer Boys Cheer (1939) - Geordie Where's That Fire? (1939) - Jeremiah Harbottle The Frozen Limits (1939) - Tom Tiddler Band Waggon (1940) - Jasper Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940) - Jerry Gasbags (1941) - Jerry Jenkins I Thank You (1941) - 'Pop' Bennett Hi Gang! (1941) - Uncle Jerry Back-Room Boy (1942) - Jerry (Jeremiah Percy Cecil Frobisher) Millions Like Us (1943) - Jim Crowson Time Flies (1944) - A Soothsayer It Happened One Sunday (1944) - Hospital Porter Don't Take It to Heart (1944) - Granfer A Place of One's Own (1945) - George I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945) - George Le Brunn The Agitator (1945) - Ben Duckett Green for Danger (1946) - The Patients: Joseph Higgins The Root of All Evil (1947) - William Scholes Green Fingers (1947) - Pickles The Hills of Donegal (1947) - Old Jake The History of Mr. Polly (1949) - Uncle Pentstemon High Jinks in Society (1949) - Grandpa (final film role)
References
External links
Moore Marriott at BFI Moore Marriott at AllMovie