Post by M. Hawbaker on Oct 14, 2023 1:04:17 GMT
Phyllis Coates, a woman who had a five-decade career in show business that started in the ‘40s and ran all the way until the ‘90s—with her famously being the first person to play iconic comic book character Lois Lane on television—has died. This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says her daughter confirmed that she died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House And Hospital in Los Angeles this week. Coates was 96.
Coates, born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Texas in 1927, moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and was eventually discovered by comedian Ken Murray, who taught her comedy and put her in vaudeville skits in variety shows, which later led to her working as a showgirl and touring with the USO in the ‘40s. She appeared in a bunch of films over the next decade, most notably 1951’s Superman And The Mole Men (the first feature film based on any DC Comics character, and one that concerns Superman defending an innocent race of underground dwellers from intolerant humans), where she made her debut as ace reporter Lois Lane.
The movie was a hit, and it was spun off into Adventures Of Superman (the first TV show about the DC superhero). Coates and George Reeves reprised their roles as Lois and Superman, and for all 26 episodes of the show’s first season, Coates was regularly knocked around and put in danger for the sake of wacky sci-fi action stunts that Reeves’ Man Of Steel could rescue her from. According to THR, Coates once explained that she was paid about $350 for each episode and that they’d sometimes film “four or five” at a time, which meant she would just wear the same suit and hat in each one.
Beyond Superman, Coates appeared in Jungle Drums Of Africa, Panther Girl Of The Kongo, Girls In Prison, This Is Alice, I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, The Lone Ranger, Leave It To Beaver, The Baby Maker, and Goodnight Sweet Marilyn. A fictionalized version of her also appeared in Hollywoodland, the 2006 film starring Adrien Brody and Ben Affleck about the mysterious (or at least supposedly mysterious) circumstances surrounding Reeves’ death.
www.avclub.com/r-i-p-phyllis-coates-tv-s-first-lois-lane-superman-1850921993?utm_campaign=The%20A.V.%20Club&utm_content=1697130602&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1SxmHO3al2EZ7QkkF5AWad6O39zyY5gFzfyIzHWoWOLFgbmTp5x_hfSO4
Coates, born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Texas in 1927, moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and was eventually discovered by comedian Ken Murray, who taught her comedy and put her in vaudeville skits in variety shows, which later led to her working as a showgirl and touring with the USO in the ‘40s. She appeared in a bunch of films over the next decade, most notably 1951’s Superman And The Mole Men (the first feature film based on any DC Comics character, and one that concerns Superman defending an innocent race of underground dwellers from intolerant humans), where she made her debut as ace reporter Lois Lane.
The movie was a hit, and it was spun off into Adventures Of Superman (the first TV show about the DC superhero). Coates and George Reeves reprised their roles as Lois and Superman, and for all 26 episodes of the show’s first season, Coates was regularly knocked around and put in danger for the sake of wacky sci-fi action stunts that Reeves’ Man Of Steel could rescue her from. According to THR, Coates once explained that she was paid about $350 for each episode and that they’d sometimes film “four or five” at a time, which meant she would just wear the same suit and hat in each one.
Beyond Superman, Coates appeared in Jungle Drums Of Africa, Panther Girl Of The Kongo, Girls In Prison, This Is Alice, I Was A Teenage Frankenstein, The Lone Ranger, Leave It To Beaver, The Baby Maker, and Goodnight Sweet Marilyn. A fictionalized version of her also appeared in Hollywoodland, the 2006 film starring Adrien Brody and Ben Affleck about the mysterious (or at least supposedly mysterious) circumstances surrounding Reeves’ death.
www.avclub.com/r-i-p-phyllis-coates-tv-s-first-lois-lane-superman-1850921993?utm_campaign=The%20A.V.%20Club&utm_content=1697130602&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR1SxmHO3al2EZ7QkkF5AWad6O39zyY5gFzfyIzHWoWOLFgbmTp5x_hfSO4
