Phyllis Coates Dies: TV’s Original Lois Lane Was 96
deadline.comPhyllis Coates, who became television’s first Lois Lane when she was cast in the classic Adventures of Superman series starring George Reeves, died yesterday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.
She was 96. Her death was announced by daughter Laura Press to our sister publication The Hollywood Reporter. Born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas, on January 15, 1927, Coates and her family later moved to Hollywood.
Along with some vaudeville-style performances, Coates launched her showbix career as a chorus girl during the 1940s, often touring the the USO.
Later in the decade, she landed small roles in such pictures as Smart Girls Don’t Talk (as the Cigarette Girl, 1948) and My Foolish Heart (1949), and appeared in a series of “Joe McDoakes” comedy shorts as Alice MacDoakes.
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