Marjorie Main

Another of the big screen favorites I had while growing up was Marjorie Main. Her antics in many outstanding movies, which numbered over 85 in her career, were the best remembered tales of "Ma and Pa Kettle."

Born Mary Tomlinson in Indiana in 1890, Marjorie Main's father was a minister who did not approve of dramatics as a form of entertainment. She briefly attended college in Indiana but left to attend drama school. Upon graduation, she taught dramatics for a year but eventually went into vaudeville in the 1910’s.

When she married Dr. Stanley Krebs in 1921, she more or less gave up performing for several years. Krebs, who was about 25 years older than Main, retired to New York later in the 1920’s; Main then resumed acting, this time on Broadway. Her film career began with small roles in the early 1930’s. With the death of her husband in 1935, Main threw herself into her work. She never remarried and had no children.

She was described as a slum mother, witty housekeeper, nosy neighbor, meddling maid, town gossip, and, most memorably, Ma Kettle. Marjorie Main was best remembered for her portrayal of the farm mother of 15 children and wife of shiftless Pa Kettle.

These characters were introduced in the 1945 film The Egg and I and were such a hit that eight films followed. At an age when most actresses’ careers are waning, Main’s star was just beginning to rise.

In real life, Main was as down to earth as the characters she played. Her attire on the set and around her house were the same: a simple cotton house dress or jeans. She preferred riding the bus because she enjoyed interacting with regular people--the inspiration for her characters.

Main’s childhood on an Indiana farm and the inspirations that led her to the stage. After a distinguished theater career and minor film roles, she was offered a long-term contract at age 50 with premier studio MGM.

Details of her acting career and personal life include her marriage to a scholarly widower 26 years her senior, and her work with actor Percy Kilbride, who was the antithesis of his character, the slothful Pa Kettle.

From 1936 through 1957, Main acted in more than 85 'A' and 'B' pictures, tackling comedy and drama with ease. She took on a variety of supporting roles in big-budget films, and she was often a star attraction in the B's, such as the Ma and Pa Kettle series produced by Universal.

Yes, their movies were a little corny, but going back to the farm for a visit with Ma and Pa is like visiting old friends.

Incidentally, the low budget Kettle pictures saved Universal International from bankruptcy; they made a lot of people laugh in a difficult postwar era, and, even today, they reminded us of a time when things were just a little more innocent.

As Ma would holler, "Come an' git it!"

Following her movie career, she did a few television shows in the 50's, which included "Tugboat Annie" and The Marjorie Main Show.

She starred in movies with some of the following superstars of the golden era of film making such as … Wallace Beery, Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Spring Byington, Zasu Pitts, Harry Morgan and Donna Reed. She also starred with Katherine Hepburn , Robert Taylor, George Cleveland, Joe Besser, and Abbott and Costello.

I will always remember this fine lady for her portrayal of a decent mom, a fine cultured saloon keeper, and many romantic but not oversexed ladies of the West that made it tough for con men and thieves to get over on.

Marjorie Main died of lung cancer on April 10, 1975. Thanks, "Ma," for giving me and many others someone to look up to and admire.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
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