Moore Marriott

Moore Marriott
Moore Marriott examines photographs of himself as 'Old Harbottle'
Born	George Thomas Moore Marriott 14 September 1885(1885-09-14) West Drayton, Middlesex
Died	11 December 1949(1949-12-11) (aged 64) Bognor Regis, West Sussex
Occupation	Comedy actor
Years active	1912–1949

Moore Marriott (14 September 1885^[1] – 11 December 1949^[2]) was a British character actor most notable for a series of films he made with Will Hay in the 1930s.

Career

Marriott came from a theatrical family and had made his stage debut at the age of five. He had originally intended to train as an architect, but instead he went into films.^[3] Rather like Clive Dunn and Wilfrid Brambell 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 in order to achieve variety in his characters.

Although he made a huge number of film appearances since 1908, today he is probably best known as old "Harbottle" in a number of comedy films he made with Will Hay and Graham Moffatt, including Oh, Mr Porter! and Ask a Policeman.

Following the dissolution of the Will Hay/Graham Moffatt/Moore Marriott partnership, he went on to make films with the comedian Arthur Askey and The Crazy Gang, where he continued to play his famous 'Harbottle'-type character. One example was I Thank You, which also starred Kathleen Harrison and Richard Murdoch as well as several other faces who became famous in later years.

His other film appearances included Millions Like Us (1943) and Green for Danger (1946).

His cause of death was cardiac syncope, acute pulmonary oedema and chronic myocardiac degeneration due to a previous pneumonia. At the time of his death he was keeping a grocer's store in Bognor Regis.^[3] He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, where his ashes were also interred.^[4]

Partial filmography

• A Maid of the Alps (1912)
• By the Shortest of Heads (1915)
• Grim Justice (1916)
• Lawyer Quince (1924)
• Ordeal by Golf (1924)
• King of the Castle (1925)
• Afraid of Love (1925)
• Every Mother's Son (1926)
• The Mating of Marcus (1926)
• London Love (1926)
• Huntingtower (1927)
• Sweeney Todd (1928)
• The Flying Scotsman (1929)
• The Lady from the Sea (1929)
• Mr. Smith Wakes Up (1929)
• Up for the Cup (1931)
• The Lyons Mail (1931)
• Aroma of the South Seas (1931)
• Dance Pretty Lady (1932)
• Hawley's of High Street (1933)
• The House of Trent (1933)
• The Crime at Blossoms (1933)
• Nell Gwynn (1934)
• Girls, Please! (1934)
• The Feathered Serpent (1934)
• Turn of the Tide (1935)
• Drake of England (1935)
• Dandy Dick (1935)
• The Man Without a Face (1935)
• Wednesday's Luck (1936)
• The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss (1936)
• As You Like It (1936)
• Luck of the Turf (1936)
• Talk of the Devil (1936)
• Windbag the Sailor (1936)
• Feather Your Nest (1937)
• Fifty-Shilling Boxer (1937)
• The Fatal Hour (1937)
• Night Ride (1937)
• Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)
• Victoria the Great (1937)
• Intimate Relations (1937)
• Old Bones of the River (1938)
• Owd Bob (1938)
• Held for Ransom (1938)
• Ask a Policeman (1938)
• Convict 99 (1938)
• Cheer Boys Cheer (1939)
• The Frozen Limits (1939)
• A Girl Must Live (1939)
• Where's That Fire? (1940)
• Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt (1940)
• Band Waggon (1940)
• Gasbags (1941)
• I Thank You (1941)
• Hi Gang! (1941)
• Back-Room Boy (1942)
• Millions Like Us (1943)
• Time Flies (1944)
• It Happened One Sunday (1944)
• Don't Take It to Heart (1944)
• The Agitator (1945)
• A Place of One's Own (1945)
• I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945)
• Green for Danger (1946)
• The Root of All Evil (1947)
• Green Fingers (1947)
• The Hills of Donegal (1947)
• The History of Mr. Polly (1949)
• High Jinks in Society (1949)

References

External links

Biography portal

• Moore Marriott at the Internet Movie Database
• Moore Marriott at Find a Grave