The "Look...Up In The Sky. It's A Bird...It's A Plane...No, It's Superman!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Thinking back to days...make that years... of old when you might have heard the familiar line..."Look...up in the sky...it's a bird, it's a plane, no.....IT'S SUPERMAN!!"  I can remember watching the show every time it was on TV no matter what time of the day or night it might have been on.  I do remember that they very seldom put the show on TV when they knew that kids would be in school!   The Adventures of Superman was an American  television series based on comic book characters and concepts that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in 1938.  The show was the first TV series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California.  Cereal manufacturer Kellogg's sponsored the show.  The first air-date was September 19, 1952 with the last show aired on April 28, 1958.  The show's first two seasons were filmed in black-and-white with the rest in color.  George Reeves played Clark Kent/Superman; Jack Laron played Jimmy Olsen; John Hamilton was Perry White; Robert Sheyne was Inspector Henderson; and Phyllis Coates played Lois Lane in the first season with Noel Neill, playing Lois in later seasons. 

Phyllis Coates

You may remember that in most shows, Lois or Jimmy find themselves in dangerous situations that only Superman's timely intervention can resolve.  The opening theme is known as "The Superman March" and in 1987, select episodes of the show were released on VHS.  In 2006 the series became available in its entirety on DVD to coincide with the DVD release of Superman Returns.  T'he feature "Hollywoodland" (2006) dramatized the show's production and the death of George Reeves.  Well, a few days ago I read in my morning newspaper that Phyllis Coates, the actress who portrayed Lois Lane in TV's "Superman"  initial season, died at the age of 96. Coates was born Gypsie Ann Still in Wichita Falls, Texas on January 15, 1927.  She had a career which spanned more than half a century, but her most famous portrayal was of  Lois Lane, a career driven reporter and love-interest of Superman on the TV screen.   She also portrayed Lois in the movies.  Coates also appeared in another of my favorite shows..."Leave It To Beaver," as well as "Tales of Wells Fargo," "Rawhide," "The Untouchables," "Perry Mason" "The Patty Duke Show," and "Gunsmoke."   She eventually played Marilyn Monroe's mentally ill mother  in the 1989 film "Goodnight, Sweet Marilyn," and on a 1994 episode of ABC's "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,"where she played the mother of Lois Lane.  I still remember sitting on the floor at my home at 929 N. Queen Street, way back when, and watching Superman beat the bad guy every episode.  After all...he was a super-hero, and Lois loved super-heroes!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.