Marie Eline: American Child Actress Of Silent Era

Marie Eline was an American child actor in the silent era.
Famously known as The Thanhouser Kid, the little actress worked with Thanhouser from autumn 1909 through early 1914. From 1910-1912, she was by far the most popular of all the Thanhouser players.

Early years:

Marie Eline and her pet poodle, in a circa 1912 portrait taken a the Robinson Studio in New Rochelle

Born as Anna Marie Eline on February 27, 1902, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, her parents were Grace and Charles Eline. She started acting in films with the Thanhouser Company at the beginning of 1909. Her first release was A 29-Cent Robbery on April 15, 1910. She played the lead role of a little girl with a stolen bank . Her sister Grace also starred in the film. Marie played female and male juvenile parts equally well. In The Judge’s Story, she acted as a young black boy, which led to critical acclaim.
Her acting gathered many praises in numerous reviews in The Billboard, Moving Picture World, and other trade journals.

Rise to fame

During 1910 and 1911, her mentions became more frequent in Thanhouser advertising than all other players combined. Though Marie Eline worked in dozens of films, everyone always addressed her as a Thanhouser kid. She was a versatile actor. It was a significant contributor to the success of the Thanhouser Company during its formative years.
The little actress worked with many stars as Guy Bates Post in The Bridge, Fanny Ward in Van Allen’s Wife. In The Fatal Wedding, she also appeared in La Belle Russe and with Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth in The Jolly Bachelors. Frequently she enacted emotional scenes because she ”puts over” the stage with all the naturalness of real life.
In 1913, amid her film work, she appeared on the stage at Proctor’s Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City. In the role of a needy child from a broken home, she dressed in rags and gave an emotional monologue imploring a judge to spare her father.

Life After Thanhouser

She was The Thanhouser Kid until November 1913. Later, Charles J Hite announced Marie Eline’s transfer to the Princess Department because she was “”nearly 11″” and grown-up. Evidently, by then, her star had dimmed, and she relegated to occasional mentions in Thanhouser publicity. After that time, she remained with Thanhouser for just a month or two.

After losing her Thanhouser Kid privilege, Marie Eline went back on the stage in 1914. According to The New York Dramatic Mirror, she signed up to work in a novel vaudeville offering prepared by James Madison. On April 15, 1914, the same trade publication noted that Marie Eline broke her vaudeville contract and went to work with the World Producing Company, in a film version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, with Irving Cummings.
With the World Producing Corporation, she worked with director William Robert Daly. The child actor had previously worked in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as Little Eva, with Irving Cummings in the role of George Harris.
Mary Eline continued being The Thanhouser Kid in publicity, even after leaving New Rochelle. Most movie patrons recognized her this name.
In 1919 Marie Eline returned to films. She worked for a time in Los Angeles with the National Film Corporation of America.

The 1920s and Later:

Marie Eline traveled extensively in the 1920s, often with her sister, and seen in many stage productions. In 1928, the Eline sisters worked in a vaudeville act which traded on their fame in films 15 years earlier.

In 1922, Marie Eline married Milton Edward Blasier, Jr., in Riverside, California. They had a daughter, Marie Elizabeth, on March 4, 1924, at the Clara Barton Hospital in Los Angeles.

She died in Longview, Washington, on January 3, 1981. Her funeral arrangements was held in Longview by the Steele Funeral Home. The remains of Marie Eline were cremated by the Green Hills Memorial Gardens, Inc.

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