Acting · Acton, Indiana, USA · Born February 22, 1890
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.
MovieSummer Stock: Get Happy!
2006
as Esme (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieThe World of Abbott and Costello
1965
as Widow Hawkins in The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
TVWagon Train
1957
as Cassie Tanner
MovieThe Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm
1957
as Ma Kettle
MovieFriendly Persuasion
1956
as The Widow Hudspeth
MovieThe Kettles in the Ozarks
1956
as Ma Kettle
MovieMa and Pa Kettle at Waikiki
1955
as Ma' Kettle
MovieRicochet Romance
1954
as Pansy Jones
TVDecember Bride
1954
MovieMa and Pa Kettle at Home
1954
as Ma Kettle
MovieRose Marie
1954
as Lady Jane Dunstock
MovieThe Long, Long Trailer
1954
as Mrs. Hittaway
MovieFast Company
1953
as Ma Parkson
MovieMa and Pa Kettle on Vacation
1952
as Ma Kettle
MovieMa and Pa Kettle at the Fair
1952
as Ma Kettle
MovieThe Belle of New York
1952
as Mrs Phineas Hill
MovieIt's a Big Country
1951
as Mrs. Wrenley
MovieThe Law and the Lady
1951
as Julia Wortin
MovieMa and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm
1951
as Ma Kettle
MovieMr. Imperium
1951
as Mrs. Cabot
MovieMrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950
as Harriet O'Malley
MovieSummer Stock
1950
as Esmé
MovieMa and Pa Kettle Go to Town
1950
as Ma Kettle
MovieBig Jack
1949
as Flapjack Kate
MovieMa and Pa Kettle
1949
as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
MovieFeudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'
1948
as Maribel Mathews
MovieThe Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap
1947
as Widow Hawkins
MovieThe Egg and I
1947
as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
MovieThe Show-Off
1946
as Mrs. Fisher
MovieUndercurrent
1946
as Lucy
MovieBad Bascomb
1946
as Abbey Hanks
MovieThe Harvey Girls
1946
as Sonora Cassidy
MovieMurder, He Says
1945
as Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson
MovieGentle Annie
1944
as Annie Goss
MovieMeet Me in St. Louis
1944
as Katie
MovieRationing
1944
as Iris Tuttle
MovieJohnny Come Lately
1943
as 'Gashouse' Mary
MovieHeaven Can Wait
1943
as Mrs. Strabel
MovieTennessee Johnson
1942
as Mrs. Maude Fisher
MovieTish
1942
as Miss Letitia 'Tish' Carberry
MovieJackass Mail
1942
as Clementine 'Tina' Tucker
MovieThe Affairs of Martha
1942
as Mrs. McKissick
MovieWe Were Dancing
1942
as Judge Hawkes
MovieThe Bugle Sounds
1942
as Susie 'Suz'
MovieHonky Tonk
1941
as Mrs. Varner
MovieThe Shepherd of the Hills
1941
as Granny Becky
MovieA Woman's Face
1941
as Emma Kristiansdotter
MovieBarnacle Bill
1941
as Marge Cavendish
MovieThe Trial of Mary Dugan
1941
as Mrs. Collins
MovieThe Wild Man of Borneo
1941
as Irma, the Cook
MovieWyoming
1940
as Mehitabel
MovieThe Captain is a Lady
1940
as Sarah May Willett
MovieSusan and God
1940
as Mary
MovieTurnabout
1940
as Nora, the Cook
MovieDark Command
1940
as Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
MovieWomen Without Names
1940
as Mrs. Lowery
MovieI Take This Woman
1940
as Gertie
MovieTwo Thoroughbreds
1939
as Hildegarde 'Hildy' Carey
MovieAnother Thin Man
1939
as Mrs. Dolley
MovieThe Women
1939
as Lucy
MovieAngels Wash Their Faces
1939
as Mrs. Arkelian
MovieThey Shall Have Music
1939
as Mrs. Miller
MovieLucky Night
1939
as Mrs. Briggs
MovieThere Goes My Heart
1938
as Fireless Cooker Customer (uncredited)
MovieGirls' School
1938
as Miss Armstrong
MovieToo Hot to Handle
1938
as Miss Wayne
MovieUnder the Big Top
1938
as Sara Post
MovieLittle Tough Guy
1938
as Mrs. Boylan
MoviePrison Farm
1938
as Matron Brand
MovieRomance of the Limberlost
1938
as Nora
MovieThree Comrades
1938
as Old woman by phone (uncredited)
MovieTest Pilot
1938
as Landlady
MovieKing of the Newsboys
1938
as Mrs. Stephens (uncredited)
MoviePenitentiary
1938
as Miss Katie Mathews
MovieBoy of the Streets
1938
as Mrs. Mary Brennan
MovieCity Girl
1938
as Mrs. Ward (uncredited)
MovieThe Shadow
1937
as Hannah Gillespie
MovieThe Wrong Road
1937
as Martha Foster
MovieThe Man Who Cried Wolf
1937
as Amelia Bradley
MovieDead End
1937
as Mrs. Martin
MovieStella Dallas
1937
as Mrs. Martin
MovieLove in a Bungalow
1937
as Miss Emma Bisbee
MovieScreen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1936
as Self
MovieMusic in the Air
1934
as Anna (Uncredited)
MovieCrime Without Passion
1934
as Backstage Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
MovieArt Trouble
1934
as Woman Who Sits on Painting
MovieClose Relations
1933
as Woman in Depot (uncredited)
MovieNew Deal Rhythm
1933
as Arizona Representative
MovieHot Saturday
1932
as Gossip in Window (uncredited)
MovieBroken Lullaby
1932
as Frau Schmidt - Townswoman (uncredited)
MovieA House Divided
1931
as Townswoman at Wedding (uncredited)
MovieHarry Fox and His Six American Beauties
1929
as Statler Hotel Beauty
