Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane in the first season of the Adventures of Superman TV series, has died. She was 96 years old.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Coates died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills on Wednesday. She is survived by her daughters and granddaughter.
Coates’ version of Lois Lane was first introduced in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, which also starred George Reeves as the Man of Steel.
Coates and Reeves later reprised their roles in the Adventures of Superman TV series, which premiered in 1952. In the series, Lois and Clark Kent worked at the Daily Planet alongside photographer Jimmy Olsen (Jack Larson) and editor Perry White (John Hamilton). The reporters also frequently worked with Inspector Bill Henderson (Robert Shayne).
Coates later left the series after the first season. Noel Neill then took over the role for the rest of the series’ run. Neill had previously played Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), which starred Kirk Alyn as the Last Son of Krypton.
Coates’ other work includes Outlaws of Texas (1950), Man from Sonora (1951), and Canyon Raiders (1951).
Coates later returned to the Superman franchise in 1994 for an episode of ABC’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which starred Dean Cain as the superhero. In the episode “The House of Luthor,” Coates played Lois Lane’s (Teri Hatcher) mother, Ellen Lane, who came to Metropolis for her daughter’s wedding to Lex Luthor (John Shea).
