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(From Old Corral collection)

Above - Phyllis Coates in her costume as the star of PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO (Republic, 1954).
Phyllis Coates

Real name:
Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell

1927 - 2023


Born in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1927, Phyllis Coates came to Hollywood after World War II and found work in a variety of A and B grade films, shorts and TV series as well as starring in JUNGLE DRUMS OF AFRICA (Republic, 1952) and PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO (Republic, 1954) cliffhangers. She was also the female lead in the Jock Mahoney cliffhanger GUNFIGHTERS OF THE NORTHWEST (1954) as well as features such as SUPERMAN AND THE MOLE MEN (1951) and I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957).

Coates portrayed 'Alice', the wife of Joe MacDoakes (played by George O'Hanlon), in the long-running 'Joe MacDoakes' series of comedy shorts from Warner Bros.

She did a few westerns with Rocky Lane at Republic, and about a dozen at Monogram/Allied Artists with Whip Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown and Bill Elliott.

Coates has the distinction of being the heroine in Rocky Lane's last starring western, EL PASO STAMPEDE (Republic, 1953), the finale for Whip Wilson, WYOMING ROUNDUP (Monogram, 1952), and the last starring oater of Johnny Mack Brown, CANYON AMBUSH (Monogram, 1952).

She is best remembered as the original Lois Lane in the SUPERMAN TV show. In the 1994 'House of Luthor' episode of TV's LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, she played 'Ellen Lane', the mother of Teri Hatcher.

96 year old Phyllis Coates passed away on October 11, 2023 at the Motion Picture Home and Hospital, Woodland Hills, California.

Death notice for Phyllis Coates at the Hollywood Reporter website: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/phyllis-coates-dead-lois-lane-superman-1235616582/

The Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen website includes timelines and more details on Phyllis Coates's film and personal life: http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/45/Phyllis+Coates/index.html

Bio and photos of Phyllis Coates: http://www.supermansupersite.com/coates.html

  Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on Phyllis Coates: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167659/


(Courtesy of Les Adams)
Johnny Mack Brown's last - 1952


(Courtesy of Les Adams)
Allan 'Rocky' Lane's last - 1953



(Courtesy of Minard Coons)

Above from left to right are Jim Bannon, Whip Wilson and Phyllis Coates in a still from NEVADA BADMEN (Monogram, 1951). Coates was the heroine in six of Whip's westerns.


1953
Poster for Clayton Moore and Phyllis Coates in the 12 chapter serial JUNGLE DRUMS OF AFRICA (Republic, 1953).

Right - Phyllis Coates (as "Lois Lane") with George Reeves in TV's SUPERMAN.

(From Old Corral collection)



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