Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane on television, has died. She was 96.
Coates portrayed the “Daily Planet” reporter and Clark Kent’s love interest for just one season on “Adventures of Superman.”
Coates, who also appeared in Republic Pictures serial shows and in films like “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein,” died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills.
Her daughter Laura Press confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter.
Coates grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas. She first took on the role of Lois Lane alongside George Reeves as Superman in “Superman and the Mole Men” (1951), a dark science fiction film. The success of the Lippert Pictures film — the first full-length theatrical feature starring the Man of Steel — brought about the production of a syndicated television show.
The first season of “Adventures of Superman” contained 26 episodes. “The Mole Men” also got a second installment, “The Unknown People.” Coates made $350 an episode. She was asked to return for season two, but she had already committed to do a pilot for a series starring Allen Jenkins and Jack Carson, which never took off.
In Tom Weaver’s book, “Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes,” Coates mentioned that producer Whitney Ellsworth offered her about four to five times what she had previously made for “Superman” if she would return for the second season, but she said she really wanted to get out of it.
The show then recruited Noel Neill, who portrayed Lois in 1948 and 1950 Columbia serials with Kirk Alyn, to replace Coates. Neill stayed with the series through its final five seasons.
Reeves introduced the two Lois actresses in 1957, but Neill, according to Coates, wanted nothing to do with her. Both were in the cast of the Soviet invasion film “Invasion USA” (1952) without having met.
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