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Actress Phyllis Coates Passes Away at Age 96
Posted on October 12, 2023 by Neil Cole
Actress Phyllis Coates who best known for her portrayal of Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane in "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951) and the first season of the "Adventures of Superman" opposite actor George Reeves has passed away at the age of 96.
Coates was born January 15, 1927 in Wichita Falls, Texas, as Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell. While still in her teens, she and her family moved to Hollywood with intentions of eventually enrolling at UCLA, however a chance meeting with Ken Murray in a Hollywood & Vine restaurant landed her a role in the comedian's vaudeville show.
Like many other young actresses of the 1940's, Coates began her career as a chorus girl and worked her way up to doing skits before joining the veteran showman Earl Carroll and later touring with the USO. Coates got some of her first motion picture experience playing bit parts in such films as Smart Girls Don't Talk (as the Cigarette Girl, 1948) and, My Foolish Heart (1949). In 1949, Coates joined the cast of the Joe MacDoakes series of comedy short subjects being produced by Warner Brothers. Coates appeared as the female lead in the reoccurring role of Alice MacDoakes in the series (You're Having In-Law Trouble (1949), So you Want to be A Cowboy (1951), So you Want to be A Plumber (1951)) which ran several until 1956.
In the spring of 1951, auditions were held for the film "Superman and The Mole Men" and Coates was asked to read for the part of Lois Lane. She recalls that her audition for the part was routine and not overly memorable. "They auditioned a lot of people. I read for it, then was called back a second time. They felt I had the quality it was that simple." They started filming that afternoon and, once the film was complete, the cast immediately began working on the television series.
Coates' version of Lois was tougher and darker than Noel Neill's earlier portrayal in the Superman serials with actor Kirk Alyn in the lead role, but probably closer to Jerry Siegel's version of Lois in the 1940's comics.
The first series of episodes of the "Adventures of Superman" was actually filmed in 1951, but did not air until 1952. When the decision was finally made to proceed with a second season, a year had passed and producer Bob Maxwell was now producing "Lassie". Whitney Ellsworth assumed the role of producer of the series and immediately began making the show much lighter, almost comical. When Ellsworth approached Coates to begin filming the second season in 1953, she was having some personal problems, had a sick child and already signed with MCA to do a pilot with Jack Carson and Allen Jenkins. Coates recalls that she felt the series was not continuing as she had hoped it would, appearing less imaginative and having less production value. So, even though Ellsworth offered her a salary nearly five times what she had been making for the first season, and essentially insisting that she stay in the role, Coates decided that it was time to leave and Neill was brought in to replace her.
After her stint on Superman, Coates began to divide her time between TV, B-movie assignments and serials for Republic Studios. Some of her more memorable films include "Canyon Ambush" (1952) in which she appeared with Johnny Mack Brown, "Jungle Drums of Africa" (Republic, 1952), which also starred Clayton Moore, remembered best as The Lone Ranger, "Panther Girl of the Kongo" (Republic, 1954), "Girls in Prison" (1956) and "I Was A Teen-Age Frankenstein" (1957). She also appeared with Noel Neill in the film "Invasion USA" in 1956.
During the 1950's and 1960's, Coates also appeared in a number of classic television series including "Gunsmoke", "Perry Mason", "The Untouchables", "The Virginian", "Lone Ranger", "The Cisco Kid" and "The Patty Duke Show".
Following film and television roles in such projects as "Baby Maker" (1970), "A Whisper Kills" (1988), "Goodnight Sweet Marilyn" (1989), "Kiss Shot" (1989) and "Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love" (1991), Coates would return to the Superman universe in the role of Lois Lane's (Terri Hatcher) mother, Ellen Lane in the first season finale episode of "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman". Her last appearance on television would be in season three of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (1994).
In the decades since she appeared on the "Adventures of Superman", Coates had been reluctant to do interviews concerning the series or George Reeves, and had appeared at only a few conventions or signings. She is is survived by her daughter, Zoe and granddaughter, Olivia.
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