Biography

Red-haired Mary Eilene Janssen was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Universal studios sound mixer Henry Janssen and his wife Mary Ellen Thompson, a singer with the L.A. Civic Light Opera. Eilene got her start in show biz early on, in fact, at the tender age of eight months, when a photographer urged her mother to enter her in a contest for Adhor Milk. She won and her image henceforth featured on the side of the company's milk trucks. Before long, Eilene became Hollywood's most photographed baby, her face appearing in ads on magazine covers and billboards for Franilla Ice Cream, Heinz 57, Challenge Butter and as the "Weber Bread Girl".

In 1940, she had a cameo in her first motion picture, Sandy Gets Her Man (1940), as an impromptu stand-in for Baby Sandy. Several small movie roles followed. In 1944, Eilene was crowned "Little Miss America", a title accompanied by USO tours and a flurry of publicity. Her subsequent career as a juvenile actress was, moreover, facilitated by her ability to also sing, dance, and, most importantly, ride horses (which she did on her Hungarian grandpa's dairy ranch from the age of eighteen months). When Republic studio went on a nationwide search for two kids to play the young Roy Rogers and the young Dale Evans, they eventually settled on Michael Chapin for the role of 'Red' and Eilene Janssen as 'Judy Dawson'. The pair ended up co-starring in four second feature westerns.

Eilene's other ventures on the big screen included supporting roles in About Mrs. Leslie (1954) and The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956). She had the female lead in a cheap and cheerful western, Escape from Red Rock (1957), produced by Poverty Row outfit Regal Pictures and released through 20th Century Fox. She also acted in diverse TV shows, including episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950), Sugarfoot (1957), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), Perry Mason (1957) and Mister Ed (1961).

Eilene Janssen retired in 1968. Up to that point, she had essentially spent almost her entire life in show business.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis