Hall of Fame-Phyllis Coates

If and when future media historians ever get around to seriously ranking early depictions of independent women on television they would be wise to set their sights a bit further back than such 60s and 70s archetypes of assertive career females as Marlo Thomas, Mary Tyler Moore, Diana Rigg and Angie Dickenson and instead examine one of the earliest actresses in a regular TV series, Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane in the first season of The Adventures of Superman. Coates’ Lois was ahead of her time on so many levels, yet being in the shadow of TV’s first superhero incarnation, the bigger than life character of Superman could not help but overshadow the ground-breaking nuances of the character. As fashioned by the show’s producer Robert Maxwell (who had cut his creative teeth as both a writer of hardboiled stories and as a producer of the Superman radio series) and certainly drawn from the spunky--and sometimes downright unpleasant character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster for their comic strip--TV’s first Lois Lane, beautiful, intelligent and professional (not to mention possessing one of the most memorable screams ever put on film), could also be mercurial, abrasive, strong-willed to the point of foolishness, sarcastic, physically brave and no-nonsense. She could also, under the right circumstances, be compassionate, caring and a valued friend. In other words, she was, for all her cosmopolitan toughness and street-wise-ness, a multidimensional figure in a show which, despite its surface level comic book trappings, was designed to appeal to children and adult audiences alike. Lois, after all, is the leading female crime reporter at one of America’s most influential newspapers, hardly a job for a milquetoast. And in this respect, it is hard to imagine any other actress in the Lois Lane role as envisioned by Maxwell other than Ms. Coates who used the producer’s edgy and rough character guidelines as a skeletal template to add her own distinct qualities and personal enrichments.

Much like her video counterpart, actress Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1927) forged her professional career with a keen intelligence and an unbridled confidence in her talents and abilities, all tempered by a realistic and savvy perspective of the vagaries, uncertainties and disappointments inherent in the entertainment industry.

Moving to Los Angeles and initially intending to enroll at UCLA she chanced to meet with actor/producer Ken Murray who picked her for a part in the comedian’s vaudeville show where she worked her way up from chorus girl to participating in skits and comedic bits. Now bitten by the show biz bug, she moved on to work for veteran show man Earl Carrol in his famous reviews and later toured with the USO.

It was at Warner Brothers in the late 1940S working in the long-running Joe MacDoakes comedy shorts playing wife Alice to star George O’Hanlon that Coates honed her craft and first worked in front of the camera. Roles in B productions, some uncredited, followed and in 1951 she appeared for the first time as Lois Lane in the Robert Lippert production Superman and the Moleman opposite George Reeves which at the time she had no reason to believe would be anything but another paycheck. Her Lois in this film is no different from her later interpretation of the role: biting, driven, sarcastic, bright, aggressively independent and blatantly contemptuous of poor put-upon Clark Kent.

Following Molemen she continued with the MacDoakes series in addition to other B productions, some westerns such as The Long Horn, Canyon Ambush and Stage to Blue River, as well as entering the new medium of television with appearances on The Range Rider, Terry and the Pirates and The Abbott and Costello Show.

With Molemen acting as a pilot for a proposed Superman television series, she was again asked to portray the aggressive big city newswoman in the first season’s 26 episodes, recognized by many fans of the show--who still hotly debate the virtues of the two very distinct styles which under different producers came to characterize the series -- as the best the production had to offer with their hardboiled, nourish flavor and at producer Maxwell’s urging--Coats’ tough as nails portrayal of Lane. Her Lois gave as good as she got and had no hesitation at following a story through to what was often a very dangerous conclusion even if it was Superman, more than her own resources, who usually saved her in the nick of time. It was a good experience for Coates. She liked George Reeves, John Hamilton, Jack Larson, Robert Shayne, the production staff and the steady work (although hating the Lois Lane attire) but she was also a pragmatist and had heavy responsibilities as a breadwinner and mother to a physically challenged child. The role was Lois Lane was just that to her, a role, and she had no idea of the longevity of the show or character. When a chance at another job working on a new series offered itself she left Superman.

The series did not pan out, however, and being the consummate working actress she went back to more B films including numerous westerns with the likes of Rocky Lane, Whip Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown and Wild Bill Elliott. There was also serial work for Republic such as Jungle Drums of Africa and the cult favorite Panther Girl of the Congo. The small screen continued to beckon as well and with her multi-talented ability to play both comedy and drama she found work in dozens of shows including Ramar of the Jungle, Topper, The Public Defender, The Duke, Adventures of Kit Carson, The Millionaire, Frontier, Four Star Playhouse, Leave It To Beaver, Black Saddle, Hennesey, Tales of Wells Fargo, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, The Untouchables and Perry Mason.

Her work began to slacken in the late 1960s and she all but stopped performing throughout the 1970s and 80s. In 1994 she appeared as Lois Lane’s mother in an episode of Lois and Clark which was a great treat for continuing fans of the original Superman series.

A charming, witty, principled and intelligent woman who puts life and career in a refreshing perspective and chooses not to live in the past, she views her career as an actress in realistic terms and knows that luck and breaks are often as important as talent and determination, sentiments her fictional counterpart Lois Lane might also agree with.

For fans of TAOS that first season of episodes jumpstarted what is now recognized as one of early televisions most classic and fondly remembered shows. And while George Reeves’ marvelously balanced interpretation of the Man of Steel looms above all else, it is also the supporting cast, led in the credits by the immensely effective and unforgettable Phyllis Coates, who helped give the show its unique character, gusto, sincerity of purpose and shadings of realism.