1. Phyllis Coates was best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman.
23 Facts About Phyllis Coates
1. 2.
Originally billed under her birth name as Gypsy Stell, Phyllis Coates was discovered in a Hollywood and Vine restaurant by vaudeville comedian Ken Murray, from whom she learned comic timing.
3.
Phyllis Coates subsequently appeared as a dancer and a comedienne in skits for ten months in Blackouts, his "racy" variety show.
4.
Phyllis Coates later performed as one of Earl Carroll's showgirls at his Earl Carroll Theatre.
5.
Phyllis Coates co-starred with George O'Hanlon as the title character's wife in the studio's Joe McDoakes short-subject comedies.
6.
Phyllis Coates acted in film serials, including Jungle Drums of Africa, Gunfighters of the Northwest, and Panther Girl of the Kongo.
7.
Phyllis Coates's film career included roles in Girls in Prison, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Blood Arrow, Cattle Empire, The Incredible Petrified World, The Baby Maker and Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn.
8.
In 1952, Phyllis Coates guest-starred in "How Death Valley Got Its Name", the first episode of the anthology series Death Valley Days.
9.
Phyllis Coates appeared in the 1954 Death Valley Days episode "The Light On The Mountain".
10.
Phyllis Coates was cast as the widowed Mary in the 1959 episode, "One in a Hundred".
11.
Phyllis Coates was cast in 1955 as Madge in the CBS sitcom Professional Father.
12.
In 1955, Phyllis Coates portrayed Medora De Mores in the two-part episode "King of the Dakotas" of the NBC western anthology series Frontier.
13.
In 1955, Phyllis Coates portrayed teacher Miss Vernon in the season 2 episode of Lassie entitled "The School".
14.
That same year, Phyllis Coates appeared in a second religious drama, This Is the Life, as Betty in the episode "I Killed Lieutenant Hartwell".
15.
Phyllis Coates was cast in 1956 as Marge in the episode "Web Feet" of the military drama Navy Log.
16.
Phyllis Coates guest-starred in David Janssen's crime drama Richard Diamond, Private Detective.
17.
In 1961, Phyllis Coates was cast as Elizabeth Gwynn in the episode "The Little Fishes" on CBS's Rawhide.
18.
Phyllis Coates guest-starred as well on three episodes of Gunsmoke between 1958 and 1964.
19.
Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in the first season of Adventures of Superman.
20.
Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in two Columbia Superman serials, in 1948 and 1950, replaced Phyllis Coates, who was not available for the second season.
21.
Phyllis Coates freelanced steadily, appearing in numerous low-budget features, many of them westerns, as well as serials and a steady stream of TV appearances, both as a regular in several series and as a guest cast member in others.
22.
Phyllis Coates resumed her career after their divorce in 1986, but in the period immediately before that divorce, her film and television appearances were infrequent.
23.
Phyllis Coates married jazz pianist Robert Nelms in 1950, gave birth to a daughter, and divorced in 1953.