Biography

Marjorie Main

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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 to a number of slum mother parts. She played very strong role of Lucy, the dude ranch operator in The Women (1939). She achieved popularity as a comedienne in six 1940s movies made with Wallace Beery e.g., Barnacle Bill (1941). The character which would dominate her remaining career was established when she played Ma Kettle in The Egg and I (1947), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress. She began her co-starring series with Percy Kilbride the following year in Feudin', Fussin' and A-Fightin' (1948) and continued through seven more. Her last movie was a "Kettle" without Kilbride: The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm (1957).
- IMDb mini biography by: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

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. James Whitmore, her co-star in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone (1950), talked about this in a TCM tribute to Main.
In her autobiography Unsinkable, Debbie Reynolds states that Main would bring the urn containing her late husband Stanley Krebs' ashes with her to the MGM commissary, order an extra meal for Stanley and carry on conversation as if he were still alive and well and joining her for the meal.
Starred in "Ma and Pa Kettle" movies as Ma Kettle. She made a total of eight movies with Percy Kilbride as Pa Kettle.
Had been known to wear white gloves and a surgical mask for fear of germ contamination.
Her husband, Stanley Lefevre Krebs, was born February 14, 1864 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

Most of the time I played mothers. That's acting!
Well, I never was one of those raving beauties, as you can easily see. But, I've got a good solid foundation, and maybe that's the reason I'm actin' in the movies. Goodness knows it isn't because I'm a glamour girl!
The fountain of youth? Sure, there's one. It's all in your mind.
Paint and powder and fine clothes and a snaky hairdo are only half an answer to this business of staying young after 45. It's what goes on inside your skull that counts.
If you want to hit the show business jackpot, learn to make them laugh instead of trying to make them cry.

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