Laura Lois January
USABiography of Laura Lois Denhery
Laura Lois Denhery, an American actress, was born on October 5, 1912, in McAllen, Texas. She was named after her aunt. Her father, Charles Denhery, came from a well-to-do family in Missouri and was a professional baseball player for some time. From a young age, starting at the age of two, she trained in dance. Her mother, Lucille, originally from Aberdeen, Texas, believed that Lois and her younger brother would be talented enough to act in movies. She brought the children to Los Angeles to explore the prospects for child actors and dancers in Hollywood. Lois has a photograph of herself in a dance costume at the age of three. The family eventually returned to Texas but continued to make occasional trips to California. In addition to dance lessons, Lois also began taking acting lessons.
During a building boom, the family moved to Florida, but a hurricane combined with a powerful thunderstorm destroyed their home and wiped out their savings. The Denherys decided not to return to Texas and instead headed to California. There, Lois attended a prestigious school and worked hard to eliminate her Southern accent. After completing school, Lois joined a dance troupe and went on tour. In 1931, when the troupe disbanded, Lois focused on her acting career. In the Golden Age of Hollywood, many musical comedies were being made, and actors who could sing and dance were highly valued. Lois had the potential to have a successful career, but her most notable achievement would be her role as a manicurist in "The Wizard of Oz," where she helped Dorothy get ready for her journey to the Emerald City. The film was released in 1939 when Lois was 27 years old, and her hopes for a rapid rise in her career were nearly extinguished.
Early Career
Meanwhile, the attractive, blue-eyed actress with a great figure and a height of 163 cm continued to perform on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse, where she caught the attention of a studio executive from Universal Pictures. Lois signed a contract with them and received a solid salary of $200 per week. Her first credited role was as a nanny in the 1933 musical comedy "Umpa." She went on to play roles such as a student, girl, ballet dancer, stenographer, and saleswoman. The studio occasionally loaned her out to Columbia Pictures, where Lois appeared in several low-budget comedies and westerns. Her ability to ride a horse, perform stunts without a double, and complete scenes in one take were highly valued qualities in the production of B-movies, where profitability relied on speed.
When her contract with Universal expired, Lois moved to Republic Pictures and continued to appear in westerns, a genre that was very popular at the time. She starred alongside well-known actors such as Tim McCoy, Bob Steele, and Johnny Mack Brown. After "The Wizard of Oz," Lois traveled to New York, where her talents were highly sought after on Broadway. She appeared in the musical comedy "Yokel Boy" and later became a singer at the famous Rainbow Room nightclub in Manhattan. In the 1940s, Lois divided her time between stage performances, nightclub appearances, and radio. During World War II, she hosted her own radio show called "The Revelry Girl," which catered to servicemen. In 1942, Lois became the face of the Chesterfield cigarette advertising campaign.
Later Career and Personal Life
In the late 1930s, before moving to New York, Lois got married and gave birth to a daughter. Her last film role was in the 1961 drama "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come." In the 1960s and 1970s, she continued to work in television, appearing in shows such as "My Three Sons," "The Smith Family," "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," and "Marcus Welby, M.D." She also appeared in several made-for-TV movies. Her final role was as the Widow in the television film "Double Agent."
After nearly retiring from acting, Lois Denhery worked as a public relations representative and hosted her own program on cable television. She passed away on August 7, 2006, just two months shy of her 94th birthday, from complications related to Alzheimer's disease.
