Her father was a minister, and when she joined a local stock company as a youngster she changed her name to avoid embarrassing her family. She worked in vaudeville and debuted on Broadway in 1916. Her film debut was in A House Divided (1931). She repeated her stage role in Dead End (1937) as Baby Face Martin (Humphrey Bogart)'s mother, which led ...
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Movies
The Egg and I, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Women, Dead End, Heaven Can Wait, The Harvey Girls, The Long, Long Trailer, Friendly Persuasion, The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm, Summer Stock, The Kettles in the Ozarks, Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki, Barnacle Bill, Ma and Pa ...
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Quote
1
Most of the time I played mothers. That's acting!
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Fact
1
Marjorie Main was never under contract to Universal Pictures when she appeared in the "Ma and Pa Kettle" series of films. She was on loan to Universal by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
2
Biography in "Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties" by Axel Nissen.
3
Main's career was highlighted in "The Slapstick Queens" by James Robert Parish, published by A. S. Barnes in 1973.
4
Her husband, Stanley Lefevre Krebs, was born February 14, 1864 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.
5
Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. [1999]
6
Her husband Stanley died in 1935, but until her death, she often had "conversations" with her late husband, occasionally interrupting a scene in a movie. She would then let the director know it was okay to continue the scene, which she did as if nothing happened.
7
There were a total of 10 movies in which Main played the character of Ma Kettle. She also co-starred with Kettle co-star Percy Kilbride in Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948) though it isn't a Kettle film.
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
2009
Video documentary performer: "The Train Must Be Fed" - uncredited
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure
2008
TV Movie documentary performer: "The Train Must Be Fed" - uncredited
The Harvey Girls
1946
performer: "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", "The Train Must Be Fed", "Swing Your Partner Round and Round" - uncredited
Jackass Mail
1942
performer: "The Girls of the Golden West" 1942, "When Our Day is Done" uncredited, "A Rose in the Forest" uncredited
Wyoming
1940
performer: "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" 1900, "There's a Home in Wyomin'" 1933 - uncredited
The Women
1939
music: "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain When She Comes" - uncredited / performer: "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain When She Comes", "On Top of Old Smokey" - uncredited
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
ABC Late Night
1974
TV Series
Herself
December Bride
1956
TV Series
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Lego Ma and Pa Kettle: Back on the Farm
2010
Short
Ma Kettle
Ma Kettle vs. Granny
2010
Short
Ma Kettle
Private Screenings
2006
TV Series
Clementine Tucker - 'Jackass Mail'
Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter
1982
TV Movie documentary
Actress 'Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town' (uncredited)
$10 Million
