---
name: "Marjorie Main"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/marjorie-main"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "22 February 1890"
died: "10 April 1975"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 77
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T00:54:04.360228+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Marjorie Main

Actor. Born 22 February 1890 in Acton, Indiana, USA. Died 10 April 1975.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 22 February 1890, Acton, Indiana, USA
- **Died:** 10 April 1975
- **Active:** 1937–1943
- **Also known as:** Mary Tomlinson
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 73 (2), 1940s 84 (1)
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Romance 2, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Crime 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Main, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q445018, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0537685/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/13996

## Streaming the US now

- **Tubi:** [*Heaven Can Wait*](https://film.one/film/heaven-can-wait-1943.md) (84)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Dead End*](https://film.one/film/dead-end.md) (73)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Marjorie Main

> Marjorie Main built a career on loud, rough women and did her best work quietly. She has one scene in *Dead End*, never raises her voice, and it is the thing we remember; the Ma Kettle films are what everyone else remembers.

Mrs Martin opens a door in *Dead End* (1937) and finds the son she has not seen in years, a wanted killer who has come home to be admired. Main plays the scene flat and tired. She does not shout and she does not weep, and for a minute the gangster picture around her stops. We had settled in for Bogart's film and had not expected to be winded by his mother; it was the lack of volume that did it. She had played the part on Broadway for 460 performances by then, and it shows in how little she needs to do.

That is not the Main most people know. The Main most people know rasps and swaggers, hands on hips, with a stride drawn from the farm women she had watched in Indiana. Hollywood cast her as mothers, landladies, cooks, widows and nosy neighbours, and she was good at all of them. In *Test Pilot* (1938) she is a landlady for a single scene and gets the biggest laugh in the picture, which is the trade in miniature: walk in, land it, leave.

She came up the long way, through vaudeville, Chautauqua and stock companies, then Broadway from 1916. *Dead End* and *The Women* (1939), both parts she had played on stage, got her to Hollywood; *Wyoming* got her an MGM contract in 1940. She made six comedies with Wallace Beery and played Katie the maid in *Meet Me in St. Louis* (1944). Then came *The Egg and I* (1947), Ma Kettle, and Percy Kilbride as Pa, eight films together, nine sequels in all, until *The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm* in 1957, when she stopped.

The complaint is that after the early successes the studios only ever asked for the abrasive matriarch, and it is a fair complaint. Off screen she was said to be soft-spoken and shy, which is not hard to believe after *Dead End*. Her own account of the job was plain: "Character actors are best, I believe, when they portray characters that give them a chance to draw on their own experiences, backgrounds and observations." The Kettles drew on the observations. The Martin scene drew on something else, and nobody much asked for it again.

Start with *Dead End*, which we have reviewed, and watch what she does with a minute of near silence before a decade of shouting. The Kettles will keep.

## Biography

Marjorie Main, born Mary Tomlinson, was an American actress. She worked in vaudeville on the Orpheum circuit and in Chautauqua presentations before making her Broadway debut in 1916. Her first film was *A House Divided* (1931).

Main repeated her stage role as Mrs. Martin in the 1937 film *Dead End*. She transferred another stage performance to film as a dude-ranch operator in *The Women* (1939). Signed to an MGM contract in 1940, she remained with the studio until the mid-1950s and appeared in six films with Wallace Beery, including *Barnacle Bill* (1941). She is also known for *Meet Me in St. Louis* (1944) and *Friendly Persuasion* (1956).

Her most prominent later role was as Ma Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle film series, beginning with *The Egg and I* (1947).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Heaven Can Wait* (1943), Fi1m 84, as Mrs. Strabel — [page](https://film.one/film/heaven-can-wait-1943.md)
- *Test Pilot* (1938), Fi1m 73, as Landlady — [page](https://film.one/film/test-pilot.md)
- *Dead End* (1937), Fi1m 73, as Mrs. Martin — [page](https://film.one/film/dead-end.md)

## Complete filmography (91)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Summer Stock: Get Happy!* (2006), as Esme (archive footage) (uncredited)
- *The World of Abbott and Costello* (1965), as Widow Hawkins in The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
- *Wagon Train* (1957), series, as Cassie Tanner
- *The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm* (1957), as Ma Kettle
- *Friendly Persuasion* (1956), as The Widow Hudspeth
- *The Kettles in the Ozarks* (1956), as Ma Kettle
- *Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki* (1955), as Ma' Kettle
- *Ricochet Romance* (1954), as Pansy Jones
- *December Bride* (1954), series, Actor
- *Ma and Pa Kettle at Home* (1954), as Ma Kettle
- *Rose Marie* (1954), as Lady Jane Dunstock
- *The Long, Long Trailer* (1954), as Mrs. Hittaway
- *Fast Company* (1953), as Ma Parkson
- *Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation* (1952), as Ma Kettle
- *Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair* (1952), as Ma Kettle
- *The Belle of New York* (1952), as Mrs Phineas Hill
- *It's a Big Country* (1951), as Mrs. Wrenley
- *The Law and the Lady* (1951), as Julia Wortin
- *Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm* (1951), as Ma Kettle
- *Mr. Imperium* (1951), as Mrs. Cabot
- *Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone* (1950), as Harriet O'Malley
- *Summer Stock* (1950), as Esmé
- *Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town* (1950), as Ma Kettle
- *Big Jack* (1949), as Flapjack Kate
- *Ma and Pa Kettle* (1949), as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
- *Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin'* (1948), as Maribel Mathews
- *The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap* (1947), as Widow Hawkins
- *The Egg and I* (1947), as Phoebe 'Ma' Kettle
- *The Show-Off* (1946), as Mrs. Fisher
- *Undercurrent* (1946), as Lucy
- *Bad Bascomb* (1946), as Abbey Hanks
- *The Harvey Girls* (1946), as Sonora Cassidy
- *Murder, He Says* (1945), as Mamie Fleagle Smithers Johnson
- *Gentle Annie* (1944), as Annie Goss
- *Meet Me in St. Louis* (1944), as Katie
- *Rationing* (1944), as Iris Tuttle
- *Johnny Come Lately* (1943), as 'Gashouse' Mary
- *Heaven Can Wait* (1943), as Mrs. Strabel — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/heaven-can-wait-1943.md)
- *Tennessee Johnson* (1942), as Mrs. Maude Fisher
- *Tish* (1942), as Miss Letitia 'Tish' Carberry
- *Jackass Mail* (1942), as Clementine 'Tina' Tucker
- *The Affairs of Martha* (1942), as Mrs. McKissick
- *We Were Dancing* (1942), as Judge Hawkes
- *The Bugle Sounds* (1942), as Susie 'Suz'
- *Honky Tonk* (1941), as Mrs. Varner
- *The Shepherd of the Hills* (1941), as Granny Becky
- *A Woman's Face* (1941), as Emma Kristiansdotter
- *Barnacle Bill* (1941), as Marge Cavendish
- *The Trial of Mary Dugan* (1941), as Mrs. Collins
- *The Wild Man of Borneo* (1941), as Irma, the Cook
- *Wyoming* (1940), as Mehitabel
- *The Captain is a Lady* (1940), as Sarah May Willett
- *Susan and God* (1940), as Mary Maloney
- *Turnabout* (1940), as Nora, the Cook
- *Dark Command* (1940), as Mrs. Cantrell / Mrs. Adams
- *Women Without Names* (1940), as Mrs. Lowery
- *I Take This Woman* (1940), as Gertie
- *Two Thoroughbreds* (1939), as Hildegarde 'Hildy' Carey
- *Another Thin Man* (1939), as Mrs. Dolley
- *The Women* (1939), as Lucy
- *Angels Wash Their Faces* (1939), as Mrs. Arkelian
- *They Shall Have Music* (1939), as Mrs. Miller
- *Lucky Night* (1939), as Mrs. Briggs
- *There Goes My Heart* (1938), as Fireless Cooker Customer (uncredited)
- *Girls' School* (1938), as Miss Armstrong
- *Too Hot to Handle* (1938), as Miss Wayne
- *Under the Big Top* (1938), as Sara Post
- *Little Tough Guy* (1938), as Mrs. Boylan
- *Prison Farm* (1938), as Matron Brand
- *Romance of the Limberlost* (1938), as Nora
- *Three Comrades* (1938), as Old woman by phone (uncredited)
- *Test Pilot* (1938), as Landlady — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/test-pilot.md)
- *King of the Newsboys* (1938), as Mrs. Stephens (uncredited)
- *Penitentiary* (1938), as Miss Katie Mathews
- *Boy of the Streets* (1938), as Mrs. Mary Brennan
- *City Girl* (1938), as Mrs. Ward (uncredited)
- *The Shadow* (1937), as Hannah Gillespie
- *The Wrong Road* (1937), as Martha Foster
- *The Man Who Cried Wolf* (1937), as Amelia Bradley
- *Dead End* (1937), as Mrs. Martin — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/film/dead-end.md)
- *Stella Dallas* (1937), as Mrs. Martin
- *Love in a Bungalow* (1937), as Miss Emma Bisbee
- *Music in the Air* (1934), as Anna (Uncredited)
- *Crime Without Passion* (1934), as Backstage Wardrobe Woman (uncredited)
- *Art Trouble* (1934), as Woman Who Sits on Painting
- *Close Relations* (1933), as Woman in Depot (uncredited)
- *New Deal Rhythm* (1933), as Arizona Representative
- *Hot Saturday* (1932), as Gossip in Window (uncredited)
- *Broken Lullaby* (1932), as Frau Schmidt - Townswoman (uncredited)
- *A House Divided* (1931), as Townswoman at Wedding (uncredited)
- *Harry Fox and His Six American Beauties* (1929), as Statler Hotel Beauty

## Gallery

- ![Marjorie Main](https://film.one/media/person/1229666/gallery-0e3a62d5ef49.jpg) Marjorie Main — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Marjorie_Main.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Marjorie Main in a MGM Studios publicity photo for "The Wild Man of Borneo" (1941)](https://film.one/media/person/1229666/gallery-a72363fad949.jpg) Marjorie Main in a MGM Studios publicity photo for "The Wild Man of Borneo" (1941) — Clarence S. Bull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Marjorie_Main_in_1941.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Lobby card for the 1942 film The Bugle Sounds.](https://film.one/media/person/1229666/gallery-d08e81c0ef70.jpg) Lobby card for the 1942 film The Bugle Sounds. — MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Bugle_Sounds_lobby_card.jpg/1280px-Bugle_Sounds_lobby_card.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Lobby card for the American film Barnacle Bill (1941).](https://film.one/media/person/1229666/gallery-7c8c782e37df.jpg) Lobby card for the American film Barnacle Bill (1941). — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Barnacle_Bill_lobby_card.jpg/1280px-Barnacle_Bill_lobby_card.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Marjorie Main](https://film.one/media/person/1229666/gallery-80ef0f754276.jpg) Marjorie Main — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1948: Best Supporting Actress (nominated), for *The Egg and I*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/marjorie-main