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Michele Scarabelli, playing Martha Kent in "Superman And Lois", is a dead-ringer for Susannah York, (Original Post) Aristus Mar 2021 OP
Whoa, you're right! Karadeniz Mar 2021 #1
Phyllis Coates LessAspin Mar 2021 #2
Happy 95th LessAspin Jan 2022 #3

LessAspin

(1,410 posts)
2. Phyllis Coates
Thu Mar 25, 2021, 09:57 PM
Mar 2021

The Original Lois


Phyllis Coates (born Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell; January 15, 1927)[2] is an American actress 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.[3]

Lois Lane

Coates played a strong-willed Lois Lane in the first twenty-six episodes of Adventures of Superman, in which she was given equal billing with George Reeves (insisted upon by Reeves), even for episodes in which she did not appear. Her powerful "damsel in distress" scream was used to good effect in several episodes. After shooting wrapped on the first season, the Superman producers suspended production until they found a national sponsor. When in 1953 it was possible to film more Superman episodes, Coates was already committed to another series. Noel Neill, who had played Lois Lane in two Columbia Superman serials, in 1948 and 1950, replaced Coates. With the death of Noel Neill on July 3, 2016, Coates became the last surviving regular cast member from the Adventures of Superman TV series.[16]

In the 1960s, when it became clear that Adventures of Superman would continue to enjoy great popularity in syndicated reruns, far beyond the end of its production in 1957, Coates—like many of the other supporting cast members such as Jack Larson ( "Jimmy Olsen" )—tried to distance herself from the Superman series, fearing it might limit her opportunities. By the mid 1960s, however, she had settled into a comfortable semi-retirement as a wife and homemaker after marrying Los Angeles family physician Howard Press in 1962. She resumed her career after their divorce in 1986, but in the period immediately before that divorce, her film and television appearances were infrequent. One notable role was that of the mother of the female lead in the 1970 film The Baby Maker, directed by James Bridges, the lover and production partner of Jack Larson, who had remained Coates's good friend since they worked together on Adventures of Superman.

Despite her stated misgivings about being remembered only as Lois Lane after relaunching her career, Coates agreed to appear as Lois's mother in the first season finale of the 1990s television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.[17] Noel Neill, who also played Lois Lane in film and TV series, had already been Lois's mother in the 1978 film Superman. Since then, it has become a tradition in Superman adaptations for actresses who have previously played Lois Lane to later play Lois's mother. Teri Hatcher, who played Lois in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, made an appearance in the tenth season of the series Smallville as Lois's mother, Ellen Lane...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Coates

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