Phyllis Coates, the first Lois Lane on TV, has died at 96. Across her 50 years in TV and film, she had a legacy beyond being on the first season of Adventure of Superman. Even then, that one-season run of the Man of Steel series and the movie prior, Superman and the Mole-Men, made her a memorable part of that universe for people who grew up on George Reeves as Superman.
The First Lois Lane on TV, Phyllis Coates, Has Died of Natural Causes
The death of the actress was confirmed by her daughter, Laura Press, to the media today. She died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles.
Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, the inevitable star moved to Hollywood with big dreams as a teenager. She started as a chorus girl and performed skits in Ken Murray’s vaudeville show. Acting soon came as she starred in some episodes of Faraway Hill before getting various uncredited roles on the big screen. After a few years, Phyllis Coates would become the first Lois Lane on TV with the film that was the debut of a DC superhero on the big screen.
She immediately wanted out. In Tom Weaver’s Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes, a 2008 book that looked at the making of classic sci-fi and horror shows and movies, she dished out the problems of the series that she left. She said the cast was “nearly blown up, beaten up, exploded, [and] exploited.” The star signed on for a pilot of another show that never happened and never returned. She was replaced by Noel Neill.
After playing Lois Lane, Phyllis Coates quickly moved on. She landed one of her best-known roles as Clarissa Holliday in This Is Alice. Other notable projects included I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Invasion USA, and Jungle Drums of Africa. She briefly appeared in The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, and Leave It to Beaver.
Phyllis Coates and her eventual replacement in Adventures of Superman are on a list of actresses to portray Lois Lane in live-action. Margot Kidder, Teri Hatcher, Erica Durance, Kate Bosworth, Amy Adams, and Elizabeth Tulloch have also portrayed the DC character. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan will be the next one in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy.
