John Marriott

John Marriott (September 30, 1893 – April 5, 1977) was an American actor of the stage, film and screen, whose career spanned five decades. His acting career began on the stage in Cleveland, prior to his moving to New York City, where he was a regular performer on the Broadway stage. In the 1940s he also began to perform in films, when he reprised his role from the hit Broadway play, The Little Foxes, in the William Wyler movie of the same name, starring Bette Davis. While he appeared infrequently in films (only ten during his career), he was quite active in theater, both on Broadway and in regional productions. His final performance was on-screen, in the Al Pacino film, Dog Day Afternoon. Life and career 1930s and 1940s Marriott was born in Boley, Indian Territory which is now a part of Oklahoma. He died in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. He began his acting career as a member of the Karamu Players in Cleveland in 1922. He was a member of the Cleveland Playhouse theater company. His first significant role was in the short-lived Broadway production, Too Many Boats, which opened at the Playhouse Theatre on September 11, 1934, but ran for only seven performances. Over the next 40 years he would appear in over 20 Broadway productions. In 1936 he appeared in a production of Sweet River, an adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin at the 55th Street Theater. In 1939 he originated the role of Cal in The Little Foxes, which opened on February 15 at the National Theatre and ran for 410 performances. As the new decade dawned, Marriott appeared at the Flatbush Theater in a revival of Langston Hughes' melodrama, Mulatto. In 1941 he reprised his role in the William Wyler film version of The Little Foxes, which stars Bette Davis. Marriott was one of five members of the original Broadway cast to appear in the film. After his foray into film, he would return to New York to focus on his stage career over the next decade. In 1941 he appeared in the production of The Pursuit of Happiness, starring Francis Lederer at the Flatbush Theater. In 1942, he originated the role of Rodney in Janie, which ran for 642 performances at five different theaters from 1942 to 1944. The play would be made into a film by Michael Curtiz in 1942, although Marriott was not selected for the film's cast. Marriott would also appear in regional theater productions, as he did in a 1944 version of Elena Miramova's play, Dark Eyes in Stamford, Connecticut.