# Phyllis Coates has died

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 13, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535 "2023-10-13T20:26:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/1 "2023-10-13T20:26:58Z")

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I am sad to report that the actress Phyllis Coates has died at age 96.

[https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/entertainment-celebrity/rip-phyllis-coates-tv-s-first-lois-lane/ar-AA1i6Vtr](https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/entertainment-celebrity/rip-phyllis-coates-tv-s-first-lois-lane/ar-AA1i6Vtr)

She will be remembered by most as “Lois Lane” on the first season of the 1950s “Superman” TV-show. My favorite of her roles was as the “Panther Girl” Jean Evans in the 1955 serial “Panther Girl of the Kongo”. RIP.

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/2 "2023-10-13T20:43:10Z")

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Once upon a time a name like Gypsy Ann was just too dull for Hollywood and had to be changed to something sexier like Phyllis.

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**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/3 "2023-10-13T20:59:14Z")

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Wow, she was the ‘sole survivor’ of the “Superman” television series of the 1950’s.  
George Reeves, Noel Neill, Robert Shayne, etc. are all gone.  
R.I.P. Phyllis

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**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/4 "2023-10-13T21:36:09Z")

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I’m certainly old enough to remember her from the 50s Superman. And I also remember her cameo on Lois and Clark. I did not know, however that she was still with us, til this week anyway. Rest in Peace.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/5 "2023-10-13T22:45:31Z")

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She was a great Lois Lane. Very intelligent and capable, as if a young Katherine Hepburn was doing investigative journalism at the Daily Planet.

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**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phyllis-coates-has-died/991535/6 "2023-10-13T22:56:51Z")

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To the best of my knowledge, no other Lois Lane (at least a live-action one) ever slapped the villain in the face at the end of an episode.

And no other Lois Lane could scream like Phyllis Coates.