Phyllis Coates, actor who first portrayed 'Superman' reporter Lois Lane on TV, dies at 96
LOS ANGELES — Phyllis Coates, who portrayed "Superman" Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, has died. She was 96.
Coates, who was the first actor to play the iconic role on the 1950s "Adventures of Superman" television series, died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's retirement community in Woodland Hills.
Her daughter Laura Press confirmed the death, per the New York Times.
Coates was born Gypsie Ann Stell in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Jan. 15, 1927. Her father, William Robert "Rush" Stell, was a farmer and sheet metal worker. Her family later moved to Odessa, Texas, where she attended school. When she was 16,.
