Marie Eline(1902-1981)
- Actress
Marie Eline was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on February 27, 1902. She
got her start in the film business at age 7 with the Thanhouser Co. in New
York with
A 29-Cent Robbery (1910),
which came out the year after she signed the contract. She was one of
the few actresses who played the lead role in her very first film (her
sister, Grace Eline, also had a part in the film). Marie proved to
be an incredibly versatile player for such a young child, easily shifting
between playing female and male children and, in one film--
The Judge's Story (1911)--she
even played a Black boy. She was so popular with critics and audiences
alike that, unlike most actors at Thanhouser, she was mentioned by name
by the company and even given a nickname: "The Thanhouser Kid". Critics
praised her "naturalness" and audiences flocked to her pictures, which
played no small part in Thanhouser's success as a major film production
studio.
In 1913, at the ripe old age of 11, she decided to broaden her horizons by conquering Broadway, appearing in at least one play. That same year Thanhouser took her out of "kid" roles and put her in its prestigious "Princess Films" division. Unfortunately, her popularity waned and she made fewer and fewer pictures. She finally left Thanhouser in 1914 and went back to the stage. She later signed with World Films, for whom she made Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914). She remained in the theater for several years, then in 1919 she signed with the low-budget National Film Corp. in Los Angeles.
She and her sister toured extensively in stock and vaudeville into the 1920s. She married in 1922 and had one child, a girl. She died in Longview, Washington on January 3, 1981, while visiting her daughter.
In 1913, at the ripe old age of 11, she decided to broaden her horizons by conquering Broadway, appearing in at least one play. That same year Thanhouser took her out of "kid" roles and put her in its prestigious "Princess Films" division. Unfortunately, her popularity waned and she made fewer and fewer pictures. She finally left Thanhouser in 1914 and went back to the stage. She later signed with World Films, for whom she made Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914). She remained in the theater for several years, then in 1919 she signed with the low-budget National Film Corp. in Los Angeles.
She and her sister toured extensively in stock and vaudeville into the 1920s. She married in 1922 and had one child, a girl. She died in Longview, Washington on January 3, 1981, while visiting her daughter.
