Person Details

Birthday: 1890-02-24 05:53:22

Death: 1975-04-10 05:53:22

Aliases: Mary Tomlinson

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Acton, Indiana, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 41

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

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.

Most Famous Work

Dead End
Average
7

Dead End

(1937) Mrs. Martin
Friendly Persuasion
Average
7

Friendly Persuasion

(1956) The Widow Hudspeth
Stella Dallas
Average
7

Stella Dallas

(1937) Mrs. Martin
Test Pilot
Average
7

Test Pilot

(1938) Landlady
Undercurrent
Average
6

Undercurrent

(1946) Lucy
The Shepherd of the Hills
Average
7

The Shepherd of the Hills

(1941) Granny Becky
Dark Command
Average
6

Dark Command

(1940) Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
A Woman's Face
Average
7

A Woman's Face

(1941) Emma Kristiansdotter

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1965 Widow Hawkins in The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
1957 Ma Kettle
1956 The Widow Hudspeth
Ma Kettle
1955 Ma' Kettle
1954 Pansy Jones
N/A
Ma Kettle
Lady Jane Dunstock
Mrs. Hittaway
1953 Ma Parkson
Ma Kettle
1952 Mrs Phineas Hill
Ma Kettle
1951 Mrs. Wrenley
Julia Wortin
Ma Kettle
Mrs. Cabot
1950 Harriet O'Malley
Esme
Ma Kettle
1949 Flapjack Kate
Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
1948 Self (archive footage)
Maribel Mathews
1947 Widow Hawkins
Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
1946 Mrs. Fisher
Lucy
Abbey Hanks
Sonora Cassidy
1945 Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson
1944 Annie Goss
Katie (Maid)
Iris Tuttle
1943 'Gashouse' Mary
Mrs. Strabel
1942 Mrs. Maude Fisher
Miss Letitia 'Tish' Carberry
Clementine 'Tina' Tucker
Mrs. McKissick
Judge Hawkes
Susie 'Suz'
1941 Mrs. Varner
Granny Becky
Emma Kristiansdotter
Marge Cavendish
Mrs. Collins
Irma, the Cook
1940 Mehitabel
Sarah May Willett
Mary
Nora
Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
Mrs. Lowery
Gertie
1939 Hildegarde 'Hildy' Carey
Mrs. Dolley (uncredited)
Lucy
Mrs. Arkelian
Mrs. Miller
Mrs. Briggs
1938 Fireless Cooker Customer (uncredited)
Miss Armstrong
Miss Wayne
Sara Post
Mrs. Boylan
Matron Brand
Nora
Old woman by phone (uncredited)
Landlady
Mrs. Stephens (uncredited)
Miss Katie Mathews
Mrs. Mary Brennan
1937 Hannah Gillespie
Martha Foster
Amelia Bradley
Mrs. Martin
Mrs. Martin
1936 Self
1934 Anna (Uncredited)
Backstage Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
Woman Who Sits on Painting
1933 Woman in Depot (uncredited)
Arizona Representative
1932 Gossip in Window (Uncredited)
Frau Schmidt - Townswoman (uncredited)
1931 Townswoman at Wedding (uncredited)
1929 Statler Hotel Beauty
Year Character Movie/Tv

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