{{Short description|American actress (1912–2006)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox person | image = The Cocaine Fiends (1935) - Lois January.jpg | caption = January in ''The Pace That Kills'' (1935) | birth_name = Laura Lois January | birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|10|05}} | birth_place = McAllen, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2006|08|07|1912|10|05}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Film, television actress and singer | spouse = Abraham Meyer (1937–1940, divorce)<br>Bill Gernnant (1941 - ?, divorce) | years_active = 1932–1987 }}
[[File:Rogue Of The Range (1936) - Lois January 2.jpg|thumb|January in ''Rogue of the Range'' (1936)]]
'''Lois January''' (October 5, 1912<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/04/guardianobituaries.usa Obituary], theguardian.com. Accessed May 16, 2025.</ref><ref>[https://www.b-westerns.com/ladies17.htm Profile], b-westerns.com. Accessed May 16, 2025.</ref><ref>[https://www.classicactresses.org/2024/01/loisjanuary.html Profile], classicactresses.org. Accessed May 16, 2025.</ref> – August 7, 2006) was an American actress and singer who performed small roles in several B-movies during the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cocaine Fiends|url=https://www.amazon.com/Cocaine-Fiends-Lois-January/dp/B002V62C0W|website=amazon.com|publisher=Amazon.com, Inc|accessdate=24 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lois January|url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Lois%20January%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall|website=barnesandnoble.com|publisher=Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Inc|accessdate=24 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Shilling|first1=Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers; with forewords by Kathryn Adams, Mala Powers and Marion|title=Ladies of the western : interviews with fifty-one more actresses from the silent era to the television westerns of the 1950s and 1960s|date=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786426560|page=96}}</ref>
==Early life== Born in McAllen, Texas, as '''Laura Lois January''',<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Scott|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. (2 volume set)|date=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786479924|page=374|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Laura+Lois+January%22&pg=PA374|accessdate=19 January 2017|language=en}}</ref> she "was prodded into show business by her Texas-born mother, Lucile Clara ({{nee}} Buck), whom Lois described as "pushy".<ref name=wofaq/> Her father, Charles James January, competed in soccer at the 1904 Summer Olympics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/27761 |title=Charles January |work=Olympedia |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> January attended Virgil Junior High School and the Marlborough School for girls.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mutti-Mewse|first1=Austin|title=Lois January|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/04/guardianobituaries.usa|accessdate=20 January 2017|work=The Guardian|date=September 3, 2006}}</ref> She also studied dance at the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts and acted in stage productions in Los Angeles.<ref name=wofaq/>
==Career== January's first credited role was in 1933, in the short subject ''UM-PA''. Her most famous role, however, is probably as the Emerald City manicurist in ''The Wizard of Oz'' who sings to Dorothy that "we can make a dimpled smile out of a frown".<ref name="wofaq">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PuYMBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lois+January%22&pg=PT223|title=The Wizard of Oz FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Life, According to Oz|date=2014|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9781480397194|language=en|last1=Hogan|first1=David J.|accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref> Although the character was unnamed, many fans believe it to be an incarnation of novel character Jellia Jamb.{{Citation needed |date=February 2024}}
During the 1930s, she played in numerous westerns as the heroine, usually opposite Johnny Mack Brown, Bob Steele, Tim McCoy and Bob Baker, among others. In 1935 she starred opposite Reb Russell in ''Arizona Bad Man'', and in 1936 she starred with Brown in ''Rogue of the Range'', and alongside Tim McCoy in ''Border Caballero''. While under contract with Universal Pictures she continued to play heroine roles in westerns, and in 1937 she starred opposite Bob Baker in ''Courage of the West''. The reissuing of the 1935 exploitation film ''The Pace That Kills'' (under the title ''Cocaine Fiends'') would eventually lend January even more exposure, however limited.{{cn|date=May 2025}}
January's Broadway credits include ''High Kickers'' (1941) and ''Yokel Boy'' (1939) alongside Judy Canova and Buddy Ebsen.<ref>{{cite web|title=("Lois January" search results)|url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?shows=on&people=on&theatres=on&q=Lois+January&qasset=00000150-ac7f-d16d-a550-ec7f0f460000|website=Playbill Vault|accessdate=January 19, 2017}}</ref>
By the mid-1940s, her starring roles had waned but she continued to act in non-starring parts. In 1942 she was the "poster girl" for Chesterfield cigarettes.<ref name=wofaq/> From 1960 through 1987, she played small parts on television series such as ''My Three Sons'', ''Marcus Welby, M.D.'' and ''Barnaby Jones''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=III|first1=Harris M. Lentz|title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture|date=2007|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786452118|page=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXzGCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Lois+January%22&pg=PA179|accessdate=January 19, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Her last acting role was in 1987, on the television movie ''Double Agent''. During the 1980s she attended several western film festivals.{{Citation needed |date=February 2024}}
==Personal life== In April 1937, January married theatrical agent Abraham Meyer. They were divorced on August 9, 1940.<ref>{{cite news|title=Actress Lois January Divorced by Agent|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8455544/oakland_tribune/|work=Oakland Tribune|agency=United Press|date=August 9, 1940|location=California, Oakland|page=12|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 19, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> She later married radio producer Bill Gernnant. The couple had a daughter, Jan (born 1949).<ref>{{cite news|title=Lois January With Aid of a Tease Sings Way Into Broadway's Heart|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8455451/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=November 3, 1941|location=New York, Brooklyn|page=14|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = January 19, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} *''Double Agent'' (1987) as a Dowager *''The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come'' (1961) as Mrs. Dean *''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) as Manicurist *Life Returns (1938) as Nurse *Lightnin' Crandall (1937) as Sheila Shannon *''Bar-Z Bad Men'' (1937) as Beth Harvey *''The Red Rope'' (1937) as Betty Duncan *''The Trusted Outlaw'' (1937) as Molly *''The Roaming Cowboy'' (1937) as Jeanie *''Courage of the West'' (1937) as Beth Andrews *''Moonlight on the Range'' (1937) as Wanda Brooks *''Border Caballero'' (1936) as Goldie Harris *''Lightnin' Bill Carson'' (1936) as Dolores *''Rogue of the Range'' (1936) as Stella [Lamb] *''One Rainy Afternoon'' (1936) as Mr. Pelerin's secretary *''Flying Hostess'' (1936) as Waitress *''Easy to Take'' (1936) as Annie *''Night Life of the Gods'' (1935) *''Stolen Harmony'' (1935) as Woman in sextet *''Society Fever'' (1935) as Julie Prouty *''Skull and Crown'' (1935) as Barbara Franklin *''Arizona Bad Man'' (1935) as Lucy Dunstan *''The Pace That Kills'' (1935) as Jane Bradford, also known as Lil *''The Affair of Susan'' (1935) as Girl in candy shop *''Splendor'' (1935) as Lena Limering *''The Man Who Reclaimed His Head'' (1934) *''Let's Be Ritzy'' (1934) as Stenographer *''The Love Captive'' (1934) as Girl *''Uncertain Lady'' (1934) as Maid *''The Human Side ''(1934) as High school girl *''The Black Cat'' (1934) as Cultist *''Glamour'' (1934) as Chorus girl *''Let's Talk It Over'' (1934) as Alice *''By Candlelight'' (1933) as Ann *''Umpa'' (1933) as Nurse (?) {{div col end}}
==Death== Lois January died in Los Angeles, California of Alzheimer's disease on August 7, 2006, aged 93.<ref name=rp/>
==References== {{Portal|Biography|Texas|Theater|Film|}} {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0418363}} *[http://www.b-westerns.com/ladies17.htm B-western heroines, Lois January]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:January, Lois}} Category:Actresses from Texas Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in California Category:People from McAllen, Texas Category:1912 births Category:2006 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women Category:Actors from Hidalgo County, Texas