Percy Kilbride facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Percy Kilbride
Kilbride in 1910
Born	Percy William Kilbride (1888-07-16)July 16, 1888 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died	December 11, 1964(1964-12-11) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Golden Gate National Cemetery
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1928–1955

Percy William Kilbride (born July 16, 1888 – died December 11, 1964) was an American actor. He was famous for playing funny country characters. His most well-known role was Pa Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle series of movies.

Early Life

Percy Kilbride was born in San Francisco, California. His mother, Elizabeth, was from Maryland. His father, Owen, was from Canada.

Acting Career

Percy started working in theater at age 12 in 1900. He was a "call boy" at a theater in San Francisco. This meant he called actors when it was their turn to go on stage.

After five years, he acted in comedies in many cities. He then became a Broadway actor in New York City. His first Broadway role was in A Tale of Two Cities. He played a fancy French gentleman from the 1700s.

His first movie was White Woman (1933). He acted alongside Carole Lombard. He stopped acting on Broadway in 1942. Famous comedian Jack Benny wanted him for a movie. Percy played his Broadway role again in the film George Washington Slept Here. Jack Benny said Percy was quiet and friendly. He always wanted a fair salary for his work.

Percy also appeared in the comedy Crazy House (1943). In 1945, he was in The Southerner.

Playing Pa Kettle

Kilbride as Pa Kettle circa 1950

In 1947, Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main appeared in The Egg and I. This movie was about a fancy couple trying to live on a farm. Percy and Marjorie played their funny country neighbors, Ma and Pa Kettle.

Audiences loved Ma and Pa Kettle so much that they got their own movie series! Pa Kettle became Percy's most famous role. Pa was a kind and very lazy character. He was always ready to help friends, often by borrowing from other friends. He also liked to have his friends Geoduck and Crowbar do the hard work.

The movie studio, Universal, released only one Kettle movie each year. This meant some movies were filmed but not released for a long time. For example, Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki was filmed in 1952 but came out three years later. Percy stopped playing Pa Kettle in 1953 after filming Ma and Pa Kettle Hit the Road Home. This movie was released in 1954 as Ma and Pa Kettle at Home.

Life After Pa Kettle

Percy Kilbride retired from playing Pa Kettle, but not from acting completely. The Kettle movies made a lot of money. However, they also made it hard for him to get other types of roles. People saw him only as Pa Kettle.

In 1953, Percy said that playing Pa Kettle over and over was boring. He had trained to play many different characters. He said, "That's the fun of being an actor: to meet the challenge of creating new characters. But Pa Kettle is always the same." He turned down many TV show offers because he did not want to be tied to one character.

Percy tried to play other roles in movies until 1950. But he was so well-known as Pa Kettle that he mostly played that character. One different role he had was in a 1952 film about home appliances. He was the voice of a dehumidifier!

Percy lived alone in an apartment in Los Angeles. He joked that playing Pa Kettle made him lazy in real life too. He said the "Kettle virus" would stop him from doing chores like mowing the lawn or changing a light bulb.

Later Years and Death

On September 21, 1964, Percy Kilbride and another actor, Ralph Belmont, were hit by a car. They were crossing a street in Hollywood. Ralph Belmont died right away. Percy Kilbride died three months later on December 11, 1964. He was 76 years old. His death was caused by head injuries from the accident.

Percy Kilbride was a veteran of World War I. He was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California. Percy never married. He left his money to his four nephews and a sister-in-law.

Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Percy Kilbride para niños