Phyllis Coates, TV’s original Lois Lane, has died aged 96.
Her daughter Laura Press confirmed the news to the Hollywood Reporter, saying her mother died in a “very peaceful” manner at her home in Los Angeles of natural causes.
Coates starred next to George Reeves in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman.
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“She gave a lot to the industry,” Press said of her mother’s 50-plus year career.
“Her career passed through so many genres.”
Coates began her career working as a chorus girl in the 1940s before beginning her movie career in the Western genre, including Panther Girl of the Kongo and Girls in Prison in 1955 and 1956.
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She is best known for her role as Lois Lane, including the movie and 26 episodes of the series.
Speaking with author Tom Weaver for the book Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes about her time on the Superman set, Coates said they were “nearly blown up, beaten up, exploded, exploited.”
“I guess it was because we were young and dumb, but we put up with a lot of stuff,” Coates said.
In one episode called ‘Night of Terror’ Coates said she was knocked unconscious.
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Coates would leave the Superman universe after the first season of the TV show, despite reportedly being offered five times her salary to return for Season 2.
She told Weaver she wanted to “get out of Superman.”
Coates would return to the Superman universe to play Lois Lane’s mother in ABC’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain, which aired from 1993 until 1997.
Coates was married to director Richard L Bare, however the couple divorced in 1949.
She would marry jazz pianist Robert Nelmes in 1950, with the couple welcoming their daughter Laura.
They divorced in 1953.