
Acting
Community Rating
4.8
TMDB estimate
Born
October 5, 1912
Died
August 7, 2006 (age 93)
Born in
McAllen, Texas, USA
Lois January was an American actress who performed small roles in several B-movies during the 1930s. Lois also had a secondary part in the Wizard Of Oz, towards the end of the movie, holding a Siamese cat in her arms. Toto jumps out of the basket of the hot air balloon that was supposed to take him, Dorothy and the Wizard away from the Land of Oz. January's first credited role was in 1933, in the film 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". Although the character was unnamed, many fans believe it to be an incarnation of novel character Jellia Jamb. 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 Badman, 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. January's Broadway credits include High Kickers (1941) and Yokel Boy (1939). 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. From 1960 through 1987 she played numerous small roles on television, to include roles on My Three Sons and Marcus Welby, M.D. Her last acting role was in 1987, on the television movie Double Agent. During the 1980s she attended several western film festivals.

Double Agent
as Dowager
1987

The Richard Pryor Special?
as Older Woman
1977

My Darling Daughters' Anniversary
as Nurse
1973

Marcus Welby, M.D.
as Mrs. Sloan
1969

The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
as Mrs. Dean
1961

My Three Sons
1960

Father Knows Best
as Mrs. Martin
1954

Three Cheers for the Girls
as Brunette in Dressing Room (uncredited)
1943

Courage of the West
as Beth Andrews
1937

The Red Rope
as Betty Duncan
1937

Moonlight on the Range
as Wanda Brooks
1937

The Trusted Outlaw
as Molly Clark
1937

Bar-Z Bad Men
as Beth Harvey
1937

Lightnin' Crandall
as Sheila Shannon
1937
The Roaming Cowboy
as Jeannie Morgan
1937

One Rainy Afternoon
as Mr. Perelin's Secretary
1936

Rogue of the Range
as Stella Lamb
1936

Lightnin' Bill Carson
as Dolores Costello
1936

Border Caballero
as Goldie Harris
1936

Skull and Crown
as Barbara Franklin
1935