Lois January was a 1930s B-movie actress who had a bit part in The Wizard Of Oz
She was born Lois Laura January on October 5, 1912 in McAllen, Texas. When she was a child her family moved to Los Angeles, California. Lois attended the Marlborough School for girls and studied dance at the Denishawn school. Her ambitious mother pushed her to go into show business. After high school she toured the country with a dance troupe. She made her film debut in the 1932 short film Too Many Women. While appearing in a play at the Pasadena Playhouse she was discovered by a talent agent. Lois was offered a contract at Universal for $200 a week. The lovely redhead appeared in many low budget films including Let's Talk It Over, Splendor, and The Pace That Kiss. She married Abraham Meyer, a studio music supervisor, on April 17, 1937. Lois co-starred with Johnny Mack Brown in the westerns The Rogue Of The Range and Bar-Z Bad Men.
In 1939 she appeared as a manicurist in The Wizard Of Oz with
Judy Garland. That same year she starred on Broadway in the musical Yokel Boy. Her husband Abraham sued her for divorce in 1940 claiming she had deserted him. By this time her movie career had stalled. She moved to New York City where she worked on the radio and sang in nightclubs. Lois married William Gernannt, a business manager, in 1941. The couple had a daughter but this marriage also ended in divorce. She continued to act making guest appearances on television shows like My Three Sons and Barnaby Jones. Her final role was in the 1987 TV movie Double Agent. On August 7, 2006 she died from Alzheimer's disease at the age of ninety-three. Lois was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
