Marjorie Main

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
Birthday: 1890-02-22
Place of Birth: Acton, Indiana, USA
Also Known As: Mary Tomlinson

Movies List of Marjorie Main

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Meet Me in St. Louis

1944 Movie
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Mr. Imperium

1951 Movie
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The Women

1939 Movie
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A Woman's Face

1941 Movie
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Dead End

1937 Movie
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The Egg and I

1947 Movie
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Friendly Persuasion

1956 Movie
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The Belle of New York

1952 Movie
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Summer Stock

1950 Movie
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Stella Dallas

1937 Movie
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Undercurrent

1946 Movie
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Ma and Pa Kettle

1949 Movie
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Heaven Can Wait

1943 Movie
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Tennessee Johnson

1942 Movie
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It's a Big Country

1951 Movie
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Honky Tonk

1941 Movie
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The Bugle Sounds

1942 Movie
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Jackass Mail

1942 Movie
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Murder, He Says

1945 Movie
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New Deal Rhythm

1933 Movie
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The Shadow

1937 Movie
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I Take This Woman

1940 Movie
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Barnacle Bill

1941 Movie
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Rose Marie

1954 Movie
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Lucky Night

1939 Movie
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Big Jack

1949 Movie
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Bad Bascomb

1946 Movie
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We Were Dancing

1942 Movie
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Rationing

1944 Movie
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The Wrong Road

1937 Movie
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The Law and the Lady

1951 Movie
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The Affairs of Martha

1942 Movie
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Boy of the Streets

1938 Movie
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Under the Big Top

1938 Movie
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Women Without Names

1940 Movie
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Girls' School

1938 Movie
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Too Hot to Handle

1938 Movie
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Little Tough Guy

1938 Movie
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The Show-Off

1946 Movie
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Tish

1942 Movie
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Two Thoroughbreds

1939 Movie
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Susan and God

1940 Movie
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There Goes My Heart

1938 Movie
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Gentle Annie

1944 Movie
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The Harvey Girls

1946 Movie
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Wyoming

1940 Movie
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Prison Farm

1938 Movie
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Turnabout

1940 Movie
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Three Comrades

1938 Movie
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Test Pilot

1938 Movie
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Another Thin Man

1939 Movie
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They Shall Have Music

1939 Movie
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King of the Newsboys

1938 Movie
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Fast Company

1953 Movie
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Ricochet Romance

1954 Movie
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A House Divided

1931 Movie
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Johnny Come Lately

1943 Movie
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Music in the Air

1934 Movie
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Dark Command

1940 Movie
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Hot Saturday

1932 Movie
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The Captain Is a Lady

1940 Movie
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Broken Lullaby

1932 Movie
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Art Trouble

1934 Movie
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Close Relations

1933 Movie
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Crime Without Passion

1934 Movie
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Penitentiary

1938 Movie