Coates, who played Lois Lane for the first time in the 1951 movie ‘Superman and the Mole Men,’ has away due to natural causes.
Phyllis Coates, who was the first actress to portray the well-known DC Comics character Lois Lane on television, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 96. Multiple sources claim that the actress passed away on Wednesday due to undetermined natural causes when she was a resident at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, California.
Her daughter, Laura Press, made these remarks about her mother in a statement that was sent to People. “She gave a lot to the industry and her career passed through so many genres,” Laura Press stated.
The passing was “very peaceful,” she went on to say.
The native of Wichita Falls, Texas, made her debut as the feisty Lois Lane alongside George Reeves in the film Superman and the Mole Men, which was released in 1951. The movie was the first feature film ever made based on any DC Comics character, and it was also the first film ever to star Superman in a leading role in a theatrical feature. The success of the film was immediately followed by the creation of a television program that was syndicated.
Coates, whose birth name was Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell, played the part of Lois Lane in all 26 episodes of the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman. Her co-star, Christopher Reeves, played the character of Clark Kent.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coates reportedly claimed that she was paid around $350 for each episode and that they’d occasionally shoot “four or five” at a time, which meant that she would basically wear the same suit and hat in each one. This information was obtained from an interview that she gave.
Coates related this story in an interview with Tom Weaver for the book Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes. “We were nearly blown up, beaten up, exploded, exploited — I guess it was because we were young and dumb, but we put up with a lot of stuff,” Coates said. “Not too long ago I saw an episode [“Night of Terror”] where I got knocked out!”
Coates was requested to return for season 2 of the program when it became an unexpected smash; however, she had already agreed to film a pilot for a series starring Jack Carson and Allen Jenkins before the show was even a success. She decided against coming back despite the offer of a salary that would have been five times more than in season 1. She said in the book, “I really wanted to get out of Superman,” which is the title of the book.
Noel Neill took up the role of Lois Lane at the end of the first season. She remained a cast member for the whole of the show’s last five seasons.
Coates has been married and divorced four times: the first time was to TV director Richard L. Bare, whom she met while working on the McDoakes films; the second time was to musician Robert Nelms; the third time was to Leave It to Beaver director Norman Tokar; and the fourth time was to a physician named Howard Press.
Her daughters Laura and Zoe, as well as her granddaughter Olivia, will carry on her legacy once she passes away.
