- Marjorie Main
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Marjorie Main 
as Ma Kettle in Ma and Pa Kettle On Vacation (1953)Born Mary Tomlinson
February 24, 1890
Acton, Indiana, U.S.Died April 10, 1975 (aged 85)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.Occupation Actress Years active 1916–1958 Spouse Stanley LeFevre Krebs
(1921–1935; his death)Marjorie Main (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975) was an American character actress, mainly at MGM, perhaps best known for her role as Ma Kettle in a series of ten Ma and Pa Kettle movies.[1]
Contents
Early life and career
Born Mary Tomlinson in Acton, Indiana, Main attended Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and adopted a stage name to avoid embarrassing her father, Samuel J. Tomlinson (married to Jennie L. McGaughey), who was a minister. She worked in vaudeville on the Chautauqua and Orpheum Circuits, and debuted on Broadway in 1916. Her first film was A House Divided in 1931.[2][3]
Main began playing upper class dowagers, but was ultimately typecast in abrasive, domineering, salty roles, for which her distinct 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. She made six films with Wallace Beery in the 1940s including Barnacle Bill (1941), Jackass Mail (1942), and Bad Bascomb (1946).[4] She played Sonora Cassidy, the chief cook, in The Harvey Girls (1945). The director, George Sidney, says in the comments on 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.[4]
Personal life and death
Main married Stanley LeFevre Krebs, who died in 1935. Three authors, Boze Hadleigh, Axel Madsen, and Darwin Porter, have asserted that Main was a lesbian.[5][6][7]According to Keith Stern and Boze Hadleigh, Marjorie Main had a long-term lesbian relationship with actress Spring Byington. [8][9]
Main died of lung cancer on April 10, 1975 in Los Angeles at the age of 85. She is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills.[10]
Her name is listed on her headstone as Mrs. Mary Tomlinson Krebs, with her stage name Marjorie Main underneath.
Theatre
- Salvation (1928)
- Scarlet Sister Mary (1930)
- Ebb Tide (1931)
- Music in the Air (1932)
- Jackson White (1935)
- Dead End (1935)
- The Women (1936)
Selected filmography
Year Title Role Notes 1932 Hot Saturday Gossip in Window Uncredited 1933 New Deal Rhythm Delegate from Arizona Uncredited 1934 Music in the Air Anna 1937 Stella Dallas Mrs. Martin 1938 Test Pilot Landlady 1938 Three Comrades Old Woman by Phone Uncredited 1938 Girls' School Miss Honore Armstrong 1938 Little Tough Guy Mrs. Boylan 1938 Too Hot to Handle Miss Kitty Wayne 1939 They Shall Have Music Mrs. Miller 1939 The Angels Wash Their Faces Mrs. Arkelian 1939 Another Thin Man Mrs. Dolley, Landlord Chesterfield Apartments 1939 The Women Lucy, Dude Ranch Owner 1940 I Take This Woman Gertie 1940 Dark Command Mrs. Cantrell, aka Mrs. Adams 1940 Turnabout Nora - the Cook 1940 Susan and God Mary Maloney Alternative title: The Gay Mrs. Trexel 1941 The Trial of Mary Dugan Mrs. Collins 1941 A Woman's Face Emma Kristiansdotter 1941 The Shepherd of the Hills Granny Becky 1941 Honky Tonk Mrs. Varner 1942 The Bugle Sounds Susie "Suz" 1942 The Affairs of Martha Mrs. McKessic 1942 Tennessee Johnson Mrs. Maude Fisher Alternative title: The Man on America's Conscience 1942 We Were Dancing The Judge 1943 Heaven Can Wait Mrs. Strable 1944 Meet Me in St. Louis Katie 1944 Gentle Annie Annie Goss 1945 Murder, He Says Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson 1946 The Harvey Girls Sonora Cassidy 1946 Undercurrent Lucy 1947 The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap Widow Hawkins Alternative title: The Wistful Widow 1948 Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' Maribel Mathews 1949 Big Jack Flapjack Kate 1950 Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town Ma Kettle 1950 Summer Stock Esme Alternative title: If You Feel Like Singing 1950 Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone Harriet "Hattie" O'Malley 1951 Mr. Imperium Mrs. Cabot Alternative title: You Belong to My Heart 1951 Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm Ma Kettle 1951 It's a Big Country Mrs. Wrenley 1952 The Belle of New York Mrs. Phineas Hill 1952 Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair Ma Kettle 1953 Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation Ma Kettle 1953 Fast Company Ma Parkson 1954 The Long, Long Trailer Mrs. Hittaway 1954 Rose Marie Lady Jane Dunstock 1955 Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki Ma Kettle 1956 The Kettles in the Ozarks Ma Kettle 1956 Friendly Persuasion The Widow Hudspeth Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress 1956 December Bride Herself Episode: "The Marjorie Main Show" 1957 The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm Ma Kettle 1958 Wagon Train Cassie Tanner 2 episodes References
- ^ Obituary Variety, April 16, 1975, page 95.
- ^ Price, Nelson (1997). Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman (3 ed.). Emmis Books. pp. 130. ISBN 1-578-60006-5.
- ^ Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 458. ISBN 1-557-83551-9.
- ^ a b "Marjorie Main Biography (1890-1975)". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/16/Marjorie-Main.html. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ "I want to be alone with her" Jon Newlin Contributing writer. Times - Picayune. New Orleans, La.: Jan 28, 2001. pg. 06
- ^ "Phoney marriage: a must for every gay Hollywood actor" AXEL MADSEN. The Guardian. Manchester (UK): Sep 18, 1998. pg. T.010
- ^ Poreter, Darwin. Katharine the Great: Secrets of a Lifetime Revealed Blood Moon Productions, Ltd. 2004 ISBN 0974811807
- ^ Stern, Keith Queers in History Dallas, Texas:2009 BenBella Books Page 83
- ^ Hadleigh, Boze Hollywood Lesbians New York:1994 Barricade Books
- ^ Nissen, Axel (2006). Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces From the Thirties To the Fifties. McFarland. pp. 117. ISBN 0-786-42746-9.
External links
- Marjorie Main at the Internet Broadway Database
- Marjorie Main at the Internet Movie Database
- Marjorie Main at the TCM Movie Database
- Marjorie Main at Find a Grave
- Literature on Marjorie Main
Marjorie Main • Percy Kilbride Films The Egg and I • Ma and Pa Kettle • Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town • Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm • Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair • Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation • Ma and Pa Kettle at Home • Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki • The Kettles in the Ozarks • The Kettles on Old MacDonald's FarmRelated media The Egg and I (book) • Maw & Paw (cartoon)Settings Kettle Farm • Cape FlatteryCategories:- 1890 births
- 1975 deaths
- Franklin College (Indiana) alumni
- Actors from Indiana
- American film actors
- American radio actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
- Cancer deaths in California
- Deaths from lung cancer
- LGBT people from the United States
- Lesbian actors
- People from Marion County, Indiana
- Vaudeville performers
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