Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Streaming Stars, Then and Now

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.

Married, mother of five daughters and a grandmother of five.

Interviewed in &quot;Growing Up on the Set: Interviews with 39 Former Child Actors of Classic Film and Television&quot;, by <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm1089848/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Tom Goldrup</a> and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm1854719/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Jim Goldrup</a> (McFarland, 2002).

In 1944, she was crowned &quot;Little Miss America.&quot;.

Father worked at Universal for 47 years as a sound mixer.

Trivia

Eilene Janssen

Contribute to this page

More from this person

More to explore

Recently viewed