1975 -
MARJORIE MAIN died on this date (b: 1890; Born Mary Tomlinson,
she was an American character actress and singer of the Classical
Hollywood period, best known 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, The Women, Dark Command, The Shepherd of the Hills, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Friendly Persuasion.
She was born near
Acton, in rural Marion County, Indiana. She was the second daughter of
Reverend Samuel J. Tomlinson, a Disciples of Christ minister, and Jennie
L. (McGaughey) Tomlinson. Mary's maternal grandfather, Doctor Samuel
McGaughey, was the Acton physician who delivered her.
After Tomlinson
left her family, who had moved to Kentucky, she spent the next several
years studying dramatic arts in Chicago and New York City, despite her
father's disapproval of her career choice. Tomlinson adopted the stage
name of Marjorie Main during her early acting career to avoid
embarrassing her family.
Main married widower Stanley LeFevre Krebs, a psychologist and lecturer, in November 1921. They
met while she was performing on the Chautauqua circuit. Main
accompanied Krebs on the lecture circuit, handling the details of their
life on the road. They had no children together, and made their home in
New York City. Main
performed with touring companies and in New York theaters on a
part-time basis throughout her marriage. She also began
her Hollywood film career in 1931. Main considered this period "the
happiest years of her life." She returned to a full-time acting career after Krebs died of cancer in 1935.
The Krebses'
marriage was a nontraditional one. By her accounts, the marriage was
happy, but not particularly close. Main claimed to be "brokenhearted"
following her husband's death,
but also explained that his death was "like losing a good friend. Like
part of the family." Main's biographer, Michelle Vogel, quotes a later
interview in which the actress related: "Dr. Krebs wasn't a very
practical man. I didn't figure on having to run the show, I kinda tired
of it after a few years. We pretty much went our own ways, but we was
[sic] still in the eyes of the law, man and wife." Vogel also revealed that Main had a long-term relationship with actress Spring Byington.
Main, who is best
known for playing "raucous, rough, and cantankerous women" on-screen,
was characterized as "soft-spoken, shy," and "dignified" when she was
off-screen.
Main became a popular character actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She
appeared in diverse roles on the stage and in more than 80 films. The
"cornball humor" of the Kettle films endured in television shows, such
as The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, of the 1960s.
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