PHYLLIS COATES BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Phyllis Coates was born on January 15th, 1927 in Wichita Falls, Texas with the birth name Gypsie Ann Evarts Stell. Once she graduated from high school, she relocated to Los Angeles, California with the goals of studying at UCLA.
When she met Ken Murray in a local restaurant he suggested she join a comedian vaudeville show. Her work in entertainment first began as a chorus girl and later she began touring with the USO.
Soon Warner Brothers began to take notice of her and cast her in a number of comedy short films such as, "So You Want to be in Politics" (1948), "Smart Girls Don't Talk" (1948) and "So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter" (1949).
It was just a matter of time before Coates was being seen on such feature films as, "Superman and the Mole Man" (1951) starring George Reeves, "Blues Busters" (1950) starring he Bowery Boys, Craig Stevens and Adele Jurgens, "The Gunman" (1952) starring with Whip Wilson and John Forrest 'Fuzzy' Knight, "Topeka" (1953), "Panther Girl of the Kongo" (1955), "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein" (1957) co-starring with Whit Bissell and Gary Conway, "Blood Arrow" (1958) co-starring Scott Brady and Paul Richards and "The Baby Maker" (1970) starring Barbara Hershey.
Along with film roles she also appeared on numerous television series such as her most popular playing Lois Lane on, "Adventures of Superman" (1952), for which she appeared in a total of twenty six episodes.
Other television credits included roles on, "Terry and the Pirates", "I'm the Law, "The Adventures of Kit Carson", "The Millionaire", "The Lone Ranger", "Lassie", "Frontier", "This is the Life", "It's a Great Life", "Rawhide", "The Untouchables", "Perry Mason", "The Virginian" and "Death Valley Days".
In addition, Coates also worked in a variety of television movies adding to her credits, "Thompson's Ghost" (1966), "A Whisper Kills" (1988), "Kiss Shot" (1989) and "Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love" (1991).
Coates has married four times, first very briefly to Norman Tokar. She then married Richard L. Bare in 1948 but by 1949 this marriage came to an end. Her third husband was Robert Nelms whom she wed in 1950 and had one child with before another marriage ended in 1953. Her fourth and final husband was Dr. Bernard Press from 1962 through 1968 and she had another three children during this relationship.
Phyllis Coates has not re-married and her last appearance was in 1996 on "Hollywood: The Movie".
Filmography
1996 Hollywood: The Movie
1994 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
1994 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
1991 Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love
1991 Midnight Caller
1989 Kiss Shot
1989 Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn
1988 A Whisper Kills
1970 The Baby Maker
1966 Thompson's Ghost
1966 Summer Fun
1964 Slattery's People
1952-1964 Death Valley Days
1958-1964 Gunsmoke
1963-1964 The Patty Duke Show
1964 The Virginian
1958-1964 Perry Mason
1959-1962 The Untouchables
1959-1961 Rawhide
1958-1961 Tales of Wells Fargo
1961 Gunslinger
1960 The Best of the Post
1960 Hawaiian Eye
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959 Hennesey
1959 Lux Playhouse
1959 Black Saddle
1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 This Is Alice
1958 Cattle Empire
1958 Richard Diamond, Private Detective
1958 Blood Arrow
1954-1958 G.E. True Theater
1957 I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
1957 Leave It to Beaver
1957 Chicago Confidential
1957 The Incredible Petrified World
1956 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1956 Girls in Prison
1956 So Your Wife Wants to Work
1956 Chevron Hall of Stars
1956 Crossroads
1956 So You Want to Play the Piano
1954-1956 It's a Great Life
1956 So You Want to Be Pretty
1956 Four Star Playhouse
1956 Navy Log
1955-1956 TV Reader's Digest
1956 This Is the Life
1956 God Is in the Streets
1955 Frontier
1955 The Great Gildersleeve
1955 Lassie
1955 Science Fiction Theatre
1955 Stage 7
1955 Willy
1953-1955 The Lone Ranger
1955 The Millionaire
1955 Cavalcade of America
1955 Professional Father
1955 Panther Girl of the Kongo
1954 The Public Defender
1954 The Duke
1954 The Adventures of Kit Carson
1954 Gunfighters of the Northwest
1954 So You're Having Neighbor Trouble
1953 So You Want to Be an Heir
1953 So You Think You Can't Sleep
1953 Here Come the Girls
1953 The Red Skelton Hour
1953 El Paso Stampede
1953 Topeka
1953 So You Love Your Dog
1953 I'm the Law
1953 So You Want a Television Set
1953 Ramar of the Jungle
1953 Your Jeweler's Showcase
1953 Perils of the Jungle
1953 She's Back on Broadway
1952-1953 Adventures of Superman
1953 Marshal of Cedar Rock
1953 Jungle Drums of Africa
1953 The Abbott and Costello Show
1953 Terry and the Pirates
1952 Schlitz Playhouse
1952 The Maverick
1952 Invasion USA
1952 Wyoming Roundup
1952 So You Want to Wear the Pants
1952 Flat Top
1952 Canyon Ambush
1952 Fargo
1952 So You Never Tell a Lie
1952 So You Want to Go to a Convention
1952 Racket Squad
1952 The Gunman
1952 So You Want to Get It Wholesale
1952 The Range Rider
1952 Scorching Fury
1952 Craig Kennedy, Criminologist
1951 Stage to Blue River
1951 The Longhorn
1951 Superman and the Mole-Men
1951 So You Want to Be a Plumber
1951 So You Want to Be a Bachelor
1951 Oklahoma Justice
1951 So You Want to Buy a Used Car
1951 So You Want to Be a Paper Hanger
1951 Nevada Badmen
1951 Stars Over Hollywood
1951 So You Want to Be a Cowboy
1951 Canyon Raiders
1951 Man from Sonora
1951 Valentino
1950-1951 The Cisco Kid
1951 The Sun Was Setting
1950 Outlaws of Texas
1950 Blues Busters
1950 So You Want a Raise
1950 My Blue Heaven
1950 So You Want to Move
1950 So You Want to Hold Your Husband
1950 So You Think You're Not Guilty
1950 So You Want to Throw a Party
1949 My Foolish Heart
1949 So You Want to Get Rich Quick
1949 The House Across the Street
1949 So You're Having In-Law Trouble
1949 So You Want to Be a Muscle Man
1949 Look for the Silver Lining
1949 A Kiss in the Dark
1949 So You Want to Be Popular
1949 Your Show Time
1949 So You Want to Be a Baby Sitter
1948 So You Want to Be on the Radio
1948 Smart Girls Don't Talk
1948 So You Want to Be in Politics
