Marjorie Main
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 22, 1890
- Died
- April 10, 1975 (aged 85)
- Birthplace
- Acton, Indiana, USA
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
Photos
Filmography
Summer Stock: Get Happy!
Movie · as Esme (archive footage) (uncredited)
The World of Abbott and Costello
Movie · as Widow Hawkins in The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm
Movie · as Ma Kettle
Wagon Train
TV · as Cassie Tanner · 1 ep
Friendly Persuasion
Movie · as The Widow Hudspeth
The Kettles in the Ozarks
Movie · as Ma Kettle
Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
Movie · as Ma' Kettle
The Long, Long Trailer
Movie · as Mrs. Hittaway
Rose Marie
Movie · as Lady Jane Dunstock
Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
Movie · as Ma Kettle
Ricochet Romance
Movie · as Pansy Jones
December Bride
TV · 1 ep
Fast Company
Movie · as Ma Parkson
Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair
Movie · as Ma Kettle
The Belle of New York
Movie · as Mrs Phineas Hill
Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation
Movie · as Ma Kettle
Mr. Imperium
Movie · as Mrs. Cabot
Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
Movie · as Ma Kettle
It's a Big Country
Movie · as Mrs. Wrenley
The Law and the Lady
Movie · as Julia Wortin
Summer Stock
Movie · as Esmé
Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town
Movie · as Ma Kettle
Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
Movie · as Harriet O'Malley
Ma and Pa Kettle
Movie · as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
Big Jack
Movie · as Flapjack Kate
Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
Movie · as Maribel Mathews
The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
Movie · as Widow Hawkins
The Egg and I
Movie · as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
Undercurrent
Movie · as Lucy
Bad Bascomb
Movie · as Abbey Hanks
The Show-Off
Movie · as Mrs. Fisher
The Harvey Girls
Movie · as Sonora Cassidy
Murder, He Says
Movie · as Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson
Meet Me in St. Louis
Movie · as Katie
Rationing
Movie · as Iris Tuttle
Gentle Annie
Movie · as Annie Goss
Heaven Can Wait
Movie · as Mrs. Strabel
Johnny Come Lately
Movie · as 'Gashouse' Mary
Tennessee Johnson
Movie · as Mrs. Maude Fisher
The Bugle Sounds
Movie · as Susie 'Suz'
Jackass Mail
Movie · as Clementine 'Tina' Tucker
We Were Dancing
Movie · as Judge Hawkes
The Affairs of Martha
Movie · as Mrs. McKissick
Tish
Movie · as Miss Letitia 'Tish' Carberry
A Woman's Face
Movie · as Emma Kristiansdotter
The Shepherd of the Hills
Movie · as Granny Becky
Honky Tonk
Movie · as Mrs. Varner
The Wild Man of Borneo
Movie · as Irma, the Cook
Barnacle Bill
Movie · as Marge Cavendish
The Trial of Mary Dugan
Movie · as Mrs. Collins
I Take This Woman
Movie · as Gertie
Women Without Names
Movie · as Mrs. Lowery
Susan and God
Movie · as Mary Maloney
Wyoming
Movie · as Mehitabel
Turnabout
Movie · as Nora, the Cook
Dark Command
Movie · as Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
The Captain is a Lady
Movie · as Sarah May Willett
The Women
Movie · as Lucy
Angels Wash Their Faces
Movie · as Mrs. Arkelian
Lucky Night
Movie · as Mrs. Briggs
Two Thoroughbreds
Movie · as Hildegarde 'Hildy' Carey
They Shall Have Music
Movie · as Mrs. Miller
Another Thin Man
Movie · as Mrs. Dolley
Boy of the Streets
Movie · as Mrs. Mary Brennan
Under the Big Top
Movie · as Sara Post
Girls' School
Movie · as Miss Armstrong
Too Hot to Handle
Movie · as Miss Wayne
Little Tough Guy
Movie · as Mrs. Boylan
Romance of the Limberlost
Movie · as Nora
There Goes My Heart
Movie · as Fireless Cooker Customer (uncredited)
Prison Farm
Movie · as Matron Brand
Three Comrades
Movie · as Old woman by phone (uncredited)
Test Pilot
Movie · as Landlady
King of the Newsboys
Movie · as Mrs. Stephens (uncredited)
Penitentiary
Movie · as Miss Katie Mathews
City Girl
Movie · as Mrs. Ward (uncredited)
Dead End
Movie · as Mrs. Martin
Stella Dallas
Movie · as Mrs. Martin
The Shadow
Movie · as Hannah Gillespie
The Wrong Road
Movie · as Martha Foster
The Man Who Cried Wolf
Movie · as Amelia Bradley
Love in a Bungalow
Movie · as Miss Emma Bisbee
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Movie · as Self
Music in the Air
Movie · as Anna (Uncredited)
Art Trouble
Movie · as Woman Who Sits on Painting
Crime Without Passion
Movie · as Backstage Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
New Deal Rhythm
Movie · as Arizona Representative
Close Relations
Movie · as Woman in Depot (uncredited)
Hot Saturday
Movie · as Gossip in Window (uncredited)
Broken Lullaby
Movie · as Frau Schmidt - Townswoman (uncredited)
A House Divided
Movie · as Townswoman at Wedding (uncredited)
Harry Fox and His Six American Beauties
Movie · as Statler Hotel Beauty