Marjorie Main

I have a deep soft spot for character actors, and Marjorie Main is exactly why. Born Mary Tomlinson in rural Indiana, college-educated, she chose a stage name and built a career on being unforgettable in support rather than chasing leads. Anchoring the MGM golden age and playing Ma Kettle across ten films takes a rare kind of durability; audiences came back specifically for that face and voice. To me she represents the unsung backbone of Classical Hollywood, the performer who makes the star look good. Decades after her passing, that gruff, big-hearted screen presence still feels wonderfully alive.

Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, notable as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1950s, and for her role as Ma Kettle in 10 Ma and Pa Kettle movies.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Marjorie Main

Name (Japanese)

マージョリー・メイン

Reading

まーじょりー・めいん

Born

February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Tiger

Origin

Acton, Indiana, United States

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

actor / character actor / stage actor / television actor / film actor

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Franklin College

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Indiana
• actor
• character actor
• stage actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.