Phyllis Coates

Phyllis Coates
Coates as Lois Lane in the television series Adventures of Superman
Born	Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell (1927-01-15) January 15, 1927 (age 90) Wichita Falls, Texas, United States
Alma mater	Los Angeles City College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1943–1996
Spouse(s)	Richard L. Bare (m. 1948–49) Robert Nelms (m. 1950–53) (1 daughter b. 1950) Norman Tokar (1955-?) (1 son b. 1956) Dr. Howard Press (m. 1962–86) (1 daughter b. 1963)
Children	3

Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell; January 15, 1927) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman.

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, Coates was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Stell. After graduating from high school in her native Wichita Falls, Texas, she went to Los Angeles to study at UCLA. (Another source says that she "attended Odessa high school in '42 and '43" but "graduated from Hollywood high school" after moving with her mother to Los Angeles.) Coates is listed (as Gypsy Stell) among the alumni of Los Angeles City College.

Originally billed as Gypsy Stell, Coates was allegedly discovered in 1943 by vaudeville comedian Ken Murray in a Hollywood and Vine restaurant from whom she learned comic timing. She subsequently appeared as a dancer and a comedienne in skits for ten months in Blackouts, his "racy" (mildly risqué) variety show. Along with Murray and other comedians, the show included showgirls, tap dancers, bird acts and Marie Wilson as the stereotypical "dumb blonde". She later performed as one of Earl Carroll's showgirls at his Earl Carroll Theatre. In 1946, she toured with a USO production of Anything Goes.