System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Marjorie Main
1890 - 1975
Marjorie Main, best known for her portrayal of Ma Kettle in the popular series of movies starring herself and Percy Kilbride, died April 10, 1975. She was 85.
Main was born Mary Tomlinson on February 24, 1890 in Acton, Indiana. The daughter of a Church of Christ minister, she wanted to become an actress, but her father didn't like her career choice. She studied drama at Kentucky's Hamilton College, but she told her father she was going to be a teacher.
When she graduated, she taught for a year, but finally pursued her passion. She joined a stock theater company and began performing Shakespeare plays, something her father approved of.
In the mid 1920's, Main thought she was ready for Broadway, but her career stalled, and she began performing in vaudeville as a comedy actress.
The love of her life was Dr. Stanley L. Krebs, whom she married in 1921. Krebs, a former minister, was 26 years older than Main, and made his living as a writer and lecturer. They remained married until Krebs' death in 1935. They had no children.
During their marriage, Main starred on the stage in New York City. She was a character actress, but supported some of the biggest stars of the day, including Ethel Barrymore, Barbara Stanwyck and Mae West.
Her first big part came in 1939 when she was almost 50. Her role as the comedic dude ranch proprietor in The Women, won her critical acclaim.
She also starred in a series of movies with Wallace Beery, a pairing she was not entirely pleased with. She said Beery was difficult to work with because he would change the dialogue in the middle of their lines.
In 1947, she appeared in a movie called The Egg and I. Her performance would become her signature role. She and Percy Kilbride played Ma and Pa Kettle, a corny country couple with 13 children. Ma was the responsible one while Pa was lazy. The public liked the couple, and two years later they appeared in their own movie, the first of a series of eight movies about the life and times of the Kettles.
The first movie, Ma and Pa Kettle, was released in 1949. It cost just over a quarter of a million dollars, and grossed the studio $2 million.
Kilbride retired in 1955, and Main appeared in the last two Kettle movies with another actor playing Pa.
Main retired in 1958, after guest starring on an episode of the television western, Wagon Train.
Main lived a quiet existence the rest of her life, occasionally granting media interviews and riding in the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade. She told reporters she liked to watch old movies, because it was the only way she could be with old friends who had passed on.
Main died of cancer on April 10, 1975 in Los Angeles. She is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park beside her husband.
