Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane on TV, passed away from natural causes at the age of 96 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. Her daughter, Laura Press, reported her passing.
Phyllis Coates made her debut opposite George Reeves as Superman/Clark Kent in the 1951 theatrical film Superman and the Mole Men. This was the first full-length live-action superhero movie. The feature served as a de facto pilot for the subsequent TV series The Adventures of Superman. Coates left the series after the first season due to reported conflicts with producers and other career opportunities. She returned to the Superman universe in 1994, when she played the mother of Teri Hatcher’s Lois on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Prior to Coates’ casting, Noel Neill had played Lois Lane in a set of film serials. In these serials, Kirk Alyn portrayed the Man of Steel. After Coates opted to leave The Adventures of Superman, Neill resumed the role for the duration of the series, which ran for an additional fifth seasons, until Reeves’ untimely death.
Coates was the last surviving cast member of The Adventures of Superman.
Born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas, on January 15, 1927, Phyllis Coates began her career in Vaudeville as a chorus girl, often performing in USO shows before making small appearances in films.
Aside from her depiction of Lois Lane, Coates’ most notable project was the 1957 film I Was A Teenage Frankenstein. Among her other film credits were Jungle Drums of Africa (1953), Gunfighters of the Northwest (1953), Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955), Girls in Prison (1956), Blood Arrow (1958), Cattle Empire (1958), The Incredible Petrified World (1959), The Baby Maker (1970) and Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn (1989). She also worked steadily in television from the 1950s until the 1990s.
Phyllis Coates was married four times over her lifetime, first to Richard L. Bare from 1948 until 1949. During her time as Lois, she was married to Robert Nelms. They divorced in 1953. She was later married to Norman Tokar, while her longest marriage was to Dr. Howard Press. They were together from 1962 until 1986. She had three children.
