Theatre Register

Marjorie Main

Shows · Marjorie Main

Actor 1890–1975 On stage 1928–1936

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. Main started her career in vaudeville and theatre, and appeared in film classics, such as Dead End (1937), The Women (1939), Dark Command (1940), The Shepherd of the Hills (1941), Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Friendly Persuasion (1956). Main, known for playing "raucous, rough, and cantankerous women" on-screen, was characterized as "soft-spoken, shy," and "dignified" off-screen.

On stage 8 productions, 8 years

1928 Salvation Empire Theatre · Original 31 perf.
1930 Scarlet Sister Mary Ethel Barrymore Theatre · Original · directed by E. M. Blyth 24 perf.
1930 This Man's Town Ritz Theatre · Original · directed by Lester Lonergan 8 perf.
1931 Ebb Tide New Yorker Theatre · Original · directed by J. Kent Thurber 16 perf.
1932 Music in the Air Alvin Theatre · Original · directed by Oscar Hammerstein II (Note in program: The direction is “after the pattern of the original staging, credit for which [Hammerstein shares] with the composer.”) 342 perf.
1935 Dead End Belasco Theatre · Original 687 perf.
1935 Jackson White Provincetown Playhouse · Original · directed by David Balch 17 perf.
1936 The Women Ethel Barrymore Theatre · Original · directed by Robert B. Sinclair 657 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

In the literature3 passages

  • Cast: Reinald Werrenrath, Natalie Hall, Tullio Carminati, Katherine Carrington, Al Shean, Walter Slezak, Nicholas Joy, Marjorie Mainebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • In this film, Marjorie Main plays the owner of a small hotel in Palm Springs. I play her niece who helps with the guests. It’s a very small part, but it was fun working with Marjorie and the movie’s star, Lana Turner.ebooks/Reynolds, Debbie/B0089LOHFG EBOK - Debbie Reynolds & Dorian Hannaway.txt
  • Marjorie Main was so much fun. She had reached an age where she was having difficulty with her bladder. During a scene, she would hear the call and just walk off the set to the restroom while still reciting her lines. When the director called, “Cut,” she seemed not to understand why her lines weren’t picked up. Between Marjorie’s pee brea…ebooks/Reynolds, Debbie/B0089LOHFG EBOK - Debbie Reynolds & Dorian Hannaway.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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