Marjorie Main

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	Acting
Most Rating	13.7
Birthday	1890-02-22
Place of Birth	Acton, Indiana, USA
Also Known As	Mary Tomlinson,

Meet Me in St. Louis

The Women

Mr. Imperium

The Long, Long Trailer

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap

A Woman's Face

Dead End

Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair

The Egg and I

Friendly Persuasion

The Shepherd of the Hills

The Belle of New York

Summer Stock

Stella Dallas

Undercurrent

Ma and Pa Kettle

Heaven Can Wait

Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki

Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation

Tennessee Johnson

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm

It's a Big Country

The Kettles in the Ozarks

Honky Tonk

Jackass Mail

Angels Wash Their Faces

The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm

Murder, He Says

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone

The Wild Man of Borneo

The Shadow

I Take This Woman

Barnacle Bill

Rose Marie

Lucky Night

Big Jack

Bad Bascomb

We Were Dancing

Rationing

The Wrong Road

The Law and the Lady

The Affairs of Martha

Boy of the Streets

Under the Big Top

The Man Who Cried Wolf

Women Without Names

Too Hot to Handle

Girls' School

The Show-Off

Little Tough Guy

Romance of the Limberlost

Tish

Two Thoroughbreds

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home

Susan and God

There Goes My Heart

Gentle Annie

Wyoming

The Harvey Girls

Prison Farm

The Bugle Sounds

Turnabout

Test Pilot

They Shall Have Music

Another Thin Man

King of the Newsboys

Fast Company

A House Divided

The Trial of Mary Dugan

Johnny Come Lately

Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'

Music in the Air

Dark Command

The Captain Is a Lady

Broken Lullaby

Art Trouble

Harry Fox and His Six American Beauties

New Deal Rhythm

Ricochet Romance