July 15, 2021
Goodbye and R.I.P
Lois Ranson on July 04, 2021, aged 99. A Hollywood starlet of the 1940s, she is
perhaps best remembered for her role (shown here) in the Academy Award
nominated "Cheers for Miss Bishop" (1941) starring Martha Scott, for
United Artists, in which she played the young teen Gretchen Clark who is
seduced by an older married man.
Born in Los Angeles, and raised by her mother Rose, she started out with minor
uncredited roles, including the romantic comedy "Winter Carnival"
(1939), produced by Walter Wagner, with Ann Sheridan and Richard Carlson. The
same year she played Betty Higgins in the Republic Pictures comedy "Money
to Burn", written by Jack Townley and released on New Year’s Eve 1939. It
fared so well with cinema audiences that the studio hired her to contract and
put her to good use in a series of publicity stunts and glamour shoots which
won her cover girl status on a spate of film fan magazines.
In 1940, she reprised her role of Betty Higgins in "Grandpa Goes to
Town", joining her co-stars James Gleason, Lucille Gleason and Harry
Davenport as Grandpa, and again in "Earl of Puddlestone" (1940). The
most famous of the films trio, it had Joe Higgins (James Gleason) pretending
their family has royal connections when his daughter Betty falls foul to a
snobbish and condescending rich family.
During WWII, Lois became a popular pin-up with American G.I.s, in return she
toured the U.S visiting Army camps and military hospitals as well as working at
the famed Hollywood Canteen. She was undoubtedly one of the last stars left who
donated their time there entertaining U.S. Army personnel.
In 1940, she took to the western plains in "Under Texas Skies"
co-starring Robert Livingston, before returning to her character as Betty
Higgins in "Meet the Missus" (1940) and "Petticoat
Politics" (1941). When her contract was dropped, she freelanced before
retiring in 1943 after "The Renegade", a Billy the Kid oater with
Larry Buster Crabbe.
Married for many years, she was widowed some years ago lived with her daughter
who survives her.
RANSON, Lois (Lois Rose Ranson)
Born: 11/7/1921, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Died: 7/4/2021, U.S.A.
Lois Ranson’s westerns – actress:
Under Texas Skies – 1940 (Helen Smith)
The Renegade - 1943 (Julie Martin)
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