Marjorie Main
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Marjorie Main (born Mary Tomlinson, February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975) was an American actress, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player and for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies. Main worked in vaudeville on the Orpheum circuit and in Chautauqua presentations, and debuted on Broadway in 1916. Her first film was A House Divided in 1931. Main began playing upper class dowagers, but ultimately was typecast in abrasive, domineering, salty roles, for which her distinctive voice was well suited. She repeated her stage role in Dead End in the 1937 film version, and was subsequently cast repeatedly as the mother of gangsters. She again transferred a strong stage performance, as a dude-ranch operator in The Women, to film in 1939. At this time, she guest-starred on radio programs such as Columbia Presents Corwin and The Goldbergs. Main was signed to a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract in 1940 and stayed with the studio until the mid-1950s. She made six films with Wallace Beery in the 1940s, including Barnacle Bill (1941), Jackass Mail (1942), and Bad Bascomb (1946). She played Sonora Cassidy, the chief cook, in The Harvey Girls (1946). The director George Sidney remarked in the commentary for the film that Miss Main was a "great lady" as well as a great actress who donated most of her paychecks over the years to the support of a school. Perhaps her most famous role is that of Ma Kettle, which she first played in The Egg and I in 1947 opposite Percy Kilbride as Pa Kettle. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the part and portrayed the character in nine more Ma and Pa Kettle films. By the early 1950s, she had appeared in several MGM musicals, including, Meet Me in St. Louis and The Belle of New York. She played Mrs. Wrenley in the studio's all-star film It's a Big Country (1951). In 1954, Marjorie Main played her last roles for the studio: Mrs. Hittaway in The Long, Long Trailer and Jane Dunstock in Rose Marie. In 1956, Main's performance as the widow Hudspeth in the hit film Friendly Persuasion was well-received, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1958, Main appeared twice as rugged frontierswoman Cassie Tanner in the episodes "The Cassie Tanner Story" and "The Sacramento Story" on NBC's television series Wagon Train. In the first segment, she joins the wagon train, casts her romantic interest on Ward Bond as Major Adams, and helps the train locate needed horses despite a Paiute threat.
Known For
Katie
Meet Me in St. Louis
Mrs. Cabot
Mr. Imperium
Lucy
The Women
Mrs. Hittaway
The Long, Long Trailer
Widow Hawkins
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
Emma Kristiansdotter
A Woman's Face
Mrs. Martin
Dead End
Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
The Egg and I
The Widow Hudspeth
Friendly Persuasion
Granny Becky
The Shepherd of the Hills
Mrs Phineas Hill
The Belle of New York
Esme
Summer Stock
Mrs. Martin
Stella Dallas
Lucy
Undercurrent
Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle
Mrs. Strabel
Heaven Can Wait
Ma' Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation
Mrs. Maude Fisher
Tennessee Johnson
Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Mrs. Wrenley
It's a Big Country
Ma Kettle
The Kettles in the Ozarks
Mrs. Varner
Honky Tonk
Susie 'Suz'
The Bugle Sounds
Clementine 'Tina' Tucker
Jackass Mail
Mrs. Arkelian
Angels Wash Their Faces
Ma Kettle
The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm
Maribel Mathews
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson
Murder, He Says
Harriet O'Malley
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Irma, the Cook
The Wild Man of Borneo
Arizona Representative
New Deal Rhythm
Hannah Gillespie
The Shadow
Gertie
I Take This Woman
Marge Cavendish
Barnacle Bill
Lady Jane Dunstock
Rose Marie
Mrs. Briggs
Lucky Night
Flapjack Kate
Big Jack
Abbey Hanks
Bad Bascomb
Judge Hawkes
We Were Dancing
Iris Tuttle
Rationing
Martha Foster
The Wrong Road
Julia Wortin
The Law and the Lady
Mrs. McKissick
The Affairs of Martha
Mrs. Mary Brennan
Boy of the Streets
Sara Post
Under the Big Top
Amelia Bradley
The Man Who Cried Wolf
Mrs. Lowery
Women Without Names
Miss Armstrong
Girls' School
Miss Wayne
Too Hot to Handle
Mrs. Boylan
Little Tough Guy
Mrs. Fisher
The Show-Off
Nora
Romance of the Limberlost
Miss Letitia 'Tish' Carberry
Tish
Hildegarde 'Hildy' Carey
Two Thoroughbreds
Mary
Susan and God
Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
Fireless Cooker Customer (uncredited)
There Goes My Heart
Annie Goss
Gentle Annie
Sonora Cassidy
The Harvey Girls
Mehitabel
Wyoming
Matron Brand
Prison Farm
Nora, the Cook
Turnabout
Old woman by phone (uncredited)
Three Comrades
Landlady
Test Pilot
Mrs. Dolley (uncredited)
Another Thin Man
Mrs. Miller
They Shall Have Music
Mrs. Stephens (uncredited)
King of the Newsboys
Ma Parkson
Fast Company
Pansy Jones
Ricochet Romance
Townswoman at Wedding (uncredited)
A House Divided
Mrs. Collins
The Trial of Mary Dugan
'Gashouse' Mary
Johnny Come Lately
Anna (Uncredited)
Music in the Air
Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
Dark Command
Gossip in Window (uncredited)
Hot Saturday
Sarah May Willett
The Captain Is a Lady
Frau Schmidt - Townswoman (uncredited)
Broken Lullaby
Woman Who Sits on Painting
Art Trouble
Statler Hotel Beauty
Harry Fox and His Six American Beauties
Woman in Depot (uncredited)
Close Relations
Self
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Backstage Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
Crime Without Passion
Widow Hawkins in The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
The World of Abbott and Costello
Miss Katie Mathews
Penitentiary
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
87
Gender
Female
Birthday
1890-02-22
Place of Birth
Acton, Indiana, USA
Also Known As
Mary Tomlinson