Mr. Moseby
Marion Moseby is a character on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its spin-off, The Suite Life on Deck. The character has also appeared in cross-over episodes of That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, I'm in the Band, Jessie, and the Disney Channel special, Studio DC: Almost Live. Phill Lewis has portrayed the character in all of these appearances.
| Marion Moseby | |
|---|---|
| The Suite Life of Zack & Cody & The Suite Life on Deck character | |
 Mr. Moseby in "So You Think You Can Date?" | |
| First appearance | "Hotel Hangout" (2005) |
| Last appearance | "Karate Kid-tastrophe" (2015) |
| Created by | Danny Kallis Jim Geoghan |
| Portrayed by | Phill Lewis |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Hotel manager Ship manager |
| Family | Beulah Moseby (mother) Spencer Moseby (brother) Lily Moseby (sister) Dwight Howard (half-brother) |
| Relatives | Rose Moseby (grandmother) Nia Moseby (niece) |
Character biography
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
Marion Moseby is the uptight manager of the Tipton Hotel who speaks with an extensive vocabulary and an urbane vernacular, as well as the ability to speak many different languages besides English (French, Japanese, Swahili, Spanish, etc.). He is often annoyed by Zack and Cody Martin's schemes and antics (to the point that he had vowed never to have any children of his own), but although he acts as though he does not care about the boys, he actually has a great deal of affection for them. In the episode "The Ghost of 613", it is revealed that he started out at the Tipton as a bellhop and had a "voluminous 'fro".
Mr. Moseby is more of a father to London Tipton than her own, who is very rarely around. Mr. Moseby has taught London how to walk, the alphabet, how to ride a bike, how to roller skate, and how to drive. He cares for London and treats her like his own daughter. He also helps London with any problems she is having. She has, in turn, shown to care for Moseby and see him as a father figure. She very much respects him, and in the episode "Arwinstein" she makes him Prime Minister of the country that she "bought".
The Suite Life on Deck
In the follow-up series, he is somewhat an uptight chaperone on the SS Tipton, though the job of playing foil to Zack and Cody's antics never goes away. When the series starts, he has left his job at the Boston Tipton to run the SS Tipton and has been there for three months when Zack and Cody arrive for the school program. Their arrival causes him to scream and jump overboard. In this series we find out that he is very fond of pocket hankies. He is constantly running from bow to stern keeping the boys, and London, out of trouble. It is shown that despite how he acts towards Zack and Cody, he does actually care about them. There is a running gag that people make fun of how short he is, Zack and London especially. In the episode, "Twister: Part 1", it's revealed Dwight Howard is his half-brother. The episode "Das Boots" shows him to be a chess fan and reveals he has his own blog on the game, "Make That Move with Marion". In "Graduation," he is shown to be very proud of the students and finally stands up to Mr. Tipton when his activities threaten to stop Graduation. The kids are all very pleased with him for this and he paraphrases something Zack had told him earlier (causing the two to have a moment of camaraderie) asking what can Mr. Tipton do, fire him? This indicates that he is retiring with the end of the SS Tipton. Moseby proposes to Ms. Tutweiller to which she accepts and says goodbye to Zack and Cody, admitting he will miss them, but refuses to tell them where he's going next. The boys promise to find him again wherever he goes, causing him to run off screaming. He also says goodbye to London first, in a heartfelt hug, and tells her to call him if she ever needs anything, which she promptly does, telling him she'll miss him, crying. He also appears in The Suite Life Movie.
Other series
In addition to The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, The Suite Life on Deck, and The Suite Life Movie, Moseby has appeared or been referenced in other Disney Channel series, including That's So Raven, Hannah Montana, I'm in the Band, Wizards of Waverly Place, Jessie, So Random!, and Studio DC: Almost Live. In the I'm in the Band crossover episode "Weasels on Deck", it is revealed that Mr. Moseby had once been friends with Ash Tyler as they competed with each other in professional hand-slap competitions.[1]
Mr. Moseby also appeared in an episode of Jessie, where it's shown after the events of The Suite Life on Deck, he became manager of the Tipton Hotel in New York City. In that episode he meets Jessie, and is baffled at her uncanny resemblance to his former cruise student Bailey Pickett (both characters are played by Debby Ryan).
Brandon Mychal Smith portrayed an exaggerated version of the character in a sketch based on The Suite Life on Deck, in the So Random! episode "Cole & Dylan Sprouse" rather than Phill Lewis.
Lewis provided the voice of a hotel manager based on Mr. Moseby in the Phineas and Ferb episode "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation" which Ashley Tisdale who played Candace is on that show the two did have a few scenes together.
Relationships
- Miss Emma Tutweiller - She is Zack, Cody, London, Bailey, Marcus, Maya and Woody's teacher at Seven Seas High. In "Showgirls", he starts to have a crush on her, but denies it, and in "seaHarmony", London and Zack pair them up, and they soon start dating, but later end their relationship after a disagreement over The Three Stooges. However, they soon find out what London and Zack have done, and talk about their punishment over dinner. Later, in the episode "So You Think You Can Date", he and Miss Tutweiller fight over whose party would get to use the Sky Deck. Woody suggests that they compromise and split the deck in half. In "The Play's The Thing", he and Emma officially become a couple. He proposes to her (and she accepts) in "Graduation on Deck".
Family members
- Nia Moseby (played by Giovonnie Samuels) - Nia is Mr. Moseby's sixteen-year-old niece. She has a part time job at the candy counter, filling in for Maddie during her absence. Her purpose for staying at the Tipton for the summer is so Mr. Moseby can get her to behave like a responsible girl. Lily Moseby, one of Nia's aunts, was to make her behave like a responsible adult, but she couldn't stand Nia so much that she changed her name and moved to Alaska. Nia appears in six episodes in Season Three.
- Beulah Moseby - Beulah is Mr. Moseby's mother who's been unseen. She favors Mr. Moseby's brother Spencer over him. Beulah was mentioned in the episodes "Big Hair & Baseball", "Moseby's Big Brother", "Risk It All", and "Miniature Golf". Her name Beulah was revealed in the episode, "Miniature Golf". In "Big Hair & Baseball", she was so mad at Mr. Moseby that she sent him a nasty message on his cellphone. Beulah appears to be sort of mean and she wants Mr. Moseby to get married. She is also described by Mr. Moseby on one occasion as being 250 lbs of fire and brimstone, and 20 lbs of coffee cake in "Miniature Golf".
- Rose Moseby (Phill Lewis in a dual role) - Mr. Moseby's grandmother and was in the episode, "A Nugget of History". She helped Zack get an "A" in history. She carries a large purse filled with many objects that realistically wouldn't fit into it like a baseball bat, vacuum cleaner, anchor etc. (similar to Mary Poppins' purse, Max Russo's bag from Wizards of Waverly Place and Aggie Cromwell's bag from Halloweentown.)
- Spencer Moseby (Dana Michael Woods) - Moseby's older brother, who is a little person. He is wealthy, mean and is lactose intolerant. Spencer worked for the Tipton for a while when he was broke, but quit when all his riches came back. The two dislike each other.
- Lily Moseby - Lily Moseby is the one who was to take care of Nia before Mr. Moseby. But, as Nia mentioned, this did not go well and she changed her name and moved to Alaska.
- Dwight Howard - Dwight Howard is Mr. Moseby's younger half-brother through his mother. He appeared in The Suite Life on Deck season 3 episode "Twister: Part 1" where Mr. Moseby challenges Zack, Woody and Cody to face Dwight and his friends (Deron Williams and Kevin Love) in a 3-on-3 basketball game. Mr. Moseby says that he was Dwight's coach in his younger days.
References
- I'm in the Band Season 2 Episode 1 "Weasels on Deck"