Yvonne Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman. Other notable roles in her career include Dorothy Johnson in the 1963 movie It Happened at the World's Fair, Azalea Tatum in the 1964 movie Kissin' Cousins, and the green-skinned Orion Marta in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy". The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. Craig was a philanthropist and "an advocate for workers unions, free mammograms, and equal pay for women". Craig's father's work caused the family to move in 1951 from Columbus, Ohio to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Craig first attended W. H. Adamson High School for a semester and then Sunset High School for three years.

She did not graduate from high school, due to the lack of "a single PE credit". Craig explained the lack of credit, saying "The funny thing about the PE credit is, I was going to the Edith James School of Ballet, and she'd have recitals at the art museum, and [the PE teacher] would come see me dance my little legs off, and then I'd come in to PE class, wrapped up, and claim I'd sprained and couldn't play a sport". Craig had enough credits to get into college and attended UCLA, but did not graduate.

Career Ballet

Craig started studying ballet at the age of 10 at the Edith James School of Ballet in Dallas. She was discovered there by the Russian ballerina Alexandra Danilova. While still in high school, Danilova helped her obtain a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York City. While there, the 16 year-old Craig lived with roommate and future comedienne Carol Burnett at the Rehearsal Club on West 53rd Street.

In 1954 and at 17 years of age, Craig joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. She was a professional ballerina with the company for three years. She left the ballet company in 1957 "over a disagreement on casting changes" and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of continuing her dancing career.

1950s One of her earliest television roles was in an episode of the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover", 1958) alongside Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather (later Hamilton played Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batgirl's father). Also, on 4 April 1958 she had a role on a CBS Schlitz Playhouse production, "Papa Said No." She appeared in three 1959 films – The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget – and also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode "Little Miss Wow" (also 1959).

1960s

In 1960, Craig appeared with Bing Crosby in High Time, where she met her costar and soon-to-be husband Jimmy Boyd. In 1961, she appeared in Seven Women from Hell, featured alongside Cesar Romero, and, in 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back". Boyd and Craig divorced that year.

Craig appeared with Elvis Presley in two films: It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964). She also starred in the low budget science fiction film Mars Needs Women (1966) with Tommy Kirk and appeared in In Like Flint (1967) as a Russian ballet dancer opposite James Coburn.

During the 1960s, Craig regularly appeared in television drama series. She appeared five times on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, portraying five separate girlfriends for the titular character between 1959 and 1962. In 1960, she played Jo, a young photographer with Charles Bronson in Man with a Camera. In 1964, Craig guest-starred as Carol, an underwater photographer, on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Turn Back the Clock"). In 1965, Craig appeared in The Big Valley ("The Invaders") and Kentucky Jones ("Kentucky′s Vacation"),

Craig played a Navy nurse with exotic Arabian dance skills in an episode of McHale's Navy ("Pumpkin Takes Over") and in an episode of The Big Valley with Lee Majors and Barbara Stanwyck; both aired in 1965. That same year, she appeared in an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Brain-Killer Affair"), where she helps solve the mystery of a brain-endangering poison. The following year, she came back as an U.N.C.L.E. employee in a theatrical film, One Spy Too Many, expanded from the episode "The Alexander the Greater Affair". In an episode of The Wild Wild West ("The Night of the Grand Emir") in 1966, she played an assassin who performs an exotic Arabian dance. In a 1968 episode of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir ("Haunted Honeymoon"), she played Gladys Zimmerman, a bride-to-be who was stranded overnight at Gull Cottage.

Craig played a main character and performed the vocals for part of the soundtrack for Ski Party (1965) with Frankie Avalon. She was also Natasha, the Russian ballerina, in the spy film parody In Like Flint (1967) starring James Coburn.

Batgirl

From September 1967 until March 1968, Craig appeared in her highest-profile role as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon for the third and final season of the 1960s ABC TV series Batman. As Batgirl, she wore a purple and yellow outfit and rode a "purple motorcycle with white lace trim", The New York Times praised her for "add[ing] a scrappy girl-power element" to a TV series it described as "campy". She did complain about riding the Batgirl Cycle. "They had taken off the shock absorbers to put on the bat wings, so, whenever I went over a bump, it was like jumping off a table stiff-legged."

Co-star Burt Ward described working with Craig, saying "Yvonne was a dear friend and a wonderful actress to work with. We had a great time on Batman. We were friends. She got along great with Adam and myself and everybody else. She was just a delightful person with a sparkling personality. She had an energy and brightness to her that was just uplifting".

While acting on Batman, Craig appeared as a contestant on the game show The Dating Game in 1967.

After Batman ended, Craig continued to act in television. She appeared in guest roles in It Takes a Thief, The Mod Squad, Mannix, Love, American Style, and Emergency!

"Marta" in Star Trek In 1969 Craig appeared on Star Trek as Marta, a green-skinned Orion woman in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy". Garth uses Marta, also an escaped inmate, in an attempt to have her seduce Kirk through dance and then murder him.

Craig related the problems in having to wear green body makeup from head to toe in the episode. "Susan [Oliver, who portrayed the Orion "Vina" in the show's pilot episode "The Cage"] and I were supposed to be from the same planet. Only they couldn't remember how they got Susan green in the first-season episode – they somehow had lost the makeup. So, they had to devise a substitute formula. I had skid marks because the makeup wouldn't stay on. Then, they sprayed me with Liquid Bandage, which has to be removed with acetone, so my skin was all burned – I was a walking disaster. When you perspire, Liquid Bandage won't stick, so here I was, walking around with moss hanging from my armpits. It was just hideous. I would take two showers at the studio, then go home and take an oil bath, and then take another shower to get the remainder of it off. Then, I would start all over again the next day".

Craig discussed having to provide her own choreography, saying "When they had to audition me they said, 'Can you do a three-minute dance?' and I said, 'Unless you're doing The Red Shoes, three minutes is a long time,' but I said, 'Yes, I can do a three-minute dance if you want it, but you'll probably just have to cut it to pieces, because that's crazy'. It's nuts, but it was fun to do".

1970s From 1969 to 1972, she appeared in four episodes of the comedy series Love, American Style. In a 1970 episode of Land of the Giants ("Wild Journey"), she played one-half of a humanoid, time-observing duo (with Bruce Dern), who chase two of the Earth castaways (series stars Gary Conway and Don Marshall) into the past, ultimately forcing them to relive the flight that sent them to the giants' planet.

Batgirl "Equal Pay Act" public service announcement 1973 Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division public service announcement, featuring Yvonne Craig as Batgirl, Dick Gautier as Batman and Burt Ward as RobinIn 1973 Craig reprised her Batgirl role in a public service announcement (PSA) promoting equal pay for women sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.

In the PSA, Batman and Robin were tied to a post threatened by a ticking time bomb. Batgirl arrives but refuses to release them because she is paid less than Robin, in violation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The PSA was written and directed by Sidney Galanty, and narrated by the Batman TV series creator and producer William Dozier. Dick Gautier played Batman, due to Adam West distancing himself from the character.

In 1973, Craig appeared in a first-season episode of Kojak ("Dark Sunday"), and in 1977, she made a guest appearance in The Six Million Dollar Man ("The Infiltrators").

1980s When her Hollywood career slowed in the 1980s, Craig ventured into private business after tiring of the roles she was offered. She said "I was being offered the same kinds of roles all the time and just thought, 'Why would you bother repeating yourself?'"

1990s and later career Craig was the producer for Comic Book Kid (1993). Craig appeared in the documentary film Ballets Russes (2005). From 2009 to 2011, she voiced Grandma on the animated children's series Olivia.

Public appearances at conventions In the 1980s Craig attended many comic and fan conventions, signing photos and talking with fans.

Marvel and DC comic book letterer Steve Haynie remembered Craig's interaction with convention goers, saying "Yvonne Craig's first convention appearance was at the 1988 Magnum Opus Con in Columbus, Georgia. She was going to give away autographed photos, but a few of us talked her out of that by pointing out that other guests supported themselves by selling photos. We warned her about the autograph dealers that would swoop in to take advantage of her generosity. She gave in with, 'OK, then. How about fifty cents?' We told her no again. I took off for a few minutes, and when I came back she agreed to go as high as two dollars apiece. All the money was donated to a charity the local Star Fleet chapter worked with... Yvonne Craig enjoyed meeting fans".

Fellow actress Julie Newmar said of Craig when she attended conventions, "My memory of her, especially, was her ebullience... that's the kind of person she was... A smile, always a smile. And she would always show up in these marvelous clothes. They were all made of this silky kind of material. It's body-hugging. It's what our Catwoman and Batgirl costumes should have been made out of. Kind of similar but very clinging and comfortable. She was buxom and adorable... Everyone liked her".

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1957 Eighteen and Anxious Gloria Dorothy McCormick 1959 Gidget Nan 1959 The Young Land Elena de la Madrid The Gene Krupa Story Gloria Corregio 1960 High Time Randy "Scoop" Pruitt 1961 By Love Possessed Veronica Kovacs Seven Women from Hell Janet Cook 1963 It Happened at the World's Fair Dorothy Johnson 1964 Kissin' Cousins Azalea Tatum Advance to the Rear Ora Uncredited Quick, Before It Melts Sharon Sweigert 1965 Ski Party Barbara Norris 1966 One Spy Too Many Maude Waverly One of Our Spies Is Missing Wanda 1967 In Like Flint Natasha 1968 Mars Needs Women Dr. Marjorie Bolen 1971 How to Frame a Figg Glorianna Hastings 1990 Diggin' Up Business Lucille 2005 Ballets Russes Herself Documentary

Television Year Title Role Notes 1958 Schlitz Playhouse Suzanne Stacey / Helen Meade 2 episodes Perry Mason Patricia Faxon Episode: "The Case of the Lazy Lover" 1959 Bronco Stephanie Kelton Episode: "Bodyguard" Philip Marlowe Connie Episode: "Child of Virtue" The DuPont Show with June Allyson Annie Episode: "The Girl" Mr. Lucky Beverly Mills Episode: "Little Miss Wow" 1959–1962 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Linda Sue Faversham / Elspeth Hummaker / Hazel Grimes / Myrna Lomax / Aphrodite Millican / Girl #1 6 episodes 1960 Man with a Camera Jo Stokes Episode: "Hot Ice Cream" Hennesey Nurse Harriet Burns Episode: "Scarlet Woman in White" The Chevy Mystery Show Carolyn Episode: "Murder Me Nicely" Checkmate Judy Episode: "The Cyanide Touch" The Barbara Stanwyck Show Susan Mowry Episode: "House in Order" 1960–1964 77 Sunset Strip Tina Nichols / Willie Miller / Kristan Royal / Luanna Staunton 4 episodes 1961 The Detectives Ivy Episode: "Quiet Night" Peter Loves Mary Darcy Robinson Episode: "That Certain Age" Tales of Wells Fargo Libby Gillette Episode: "The Remittance Man" The Aquanauts Kathy Episode: "The Rainbow Adventure" Michael Shayne Nan Palmer Episode: "It Takes a Heap o' Dyin'" The Jim Backus Show Debbie Episode: "Dora's Vacation" Margie Cynthia Episode: "The Initiation" Ichabod and Me Liza Halliday Episode: "Teenage Journalist" Mrs. G. Goes to College Sally Episode: "Mrs. G.'s Private Telephone" 1962 Follow the Sun Veronica St John Episode: "A Ghost in Her Gazebo" The New Breed Louise Pittman / Edna Pittman Episode: "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" I'm Dickens, He's Fenster Hillary Episode: "A Small Matter of Being Fired" Laramie Ginny Malone Episode: "The Long Road Back" Death Valley Days Emma Episode: "To Walk with Greatness" The Dick Powell Show 'Mary' Episode: "In Search of a Son" Wide Country Anita Callahan Episode: "The Bravest Man in the World" 1962–1963 Sam Benedict Amy Vickers / Angela Larkin 2 episodes 1963 Vacation Playhouse Abby Young Episode: "Hooray for Love" 1964 Dr. Kildare Carol Devon Episode: "A Day to Remember" Channing Kathy O'Reardon Episode: "My Son, the All-American" Wagon Train Ellie Riggs Episode: "The Link Cheney Story" Tom, Dick, and Mary Louise Meeker Episode: "Bad Day at Bristol Court" Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Carol Episode: "Turn Back the Clock" 1965 Valentine's Day Sally Whitfield Episode: "For Me and My Sal" McHale's Navy Nurse Suzie Clayton Episode: "Pumpkin Takes Over" The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Cecille Bergstrom Episode: "The Brain-Killer Affair" Kentucky Jones Shirley Episode: "Kentucky's Vacation" My Favorite Martian Louise Episode: "Keep Me from the Church on Time" Ben Casey Mary Dyboski Carter Episode: "If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser" The Big Valley Allie Kay Episode: "The Invaders" 1966 The Wild Wild West Ecstasy La Joie Episode: "The Night of the Grand Emir" Mister Roberts Carol Jennings Episode: "Damn the Torpedoes" My Three Sons Vickie Malone Episode: "If at First" 1967 Mars Needs Women Dr. Marjorie Bolen Television film Batgirl Barbara Gordon / Batgirl Television short 1967–1968 Batman Barbara Gordon / Batgirl 26 episodes 1968 The Ghost & Mrs. Muir Gladys Zimmerman Episode: "Haunted Honeymoon" It Takes a Thief Roxanne Episode: "The Bill Is in Committee" The Mod Squad Tara Chapman / Lila Mason Episode: "Find Tara Chapman!" 1969 Star Trek Marta Episode: "Whom Gods Destroy" The Good Guys Dr. Cummings Episode: "Communications Gap" 1969–1972 Love, American Style Kathy / Helen / Janet / June 4 episodes 1969–1973 Mannix Ada Lee Hayes / Mrs. Diana Everett 2 episodes 1970 The Courtship of Eddie's Father Maryanne Atwater Episode: "Don't Look Now, But Your Scorpio's Rising" Land of the Giants Berna Episode: "Wild Journey" Three Coins in the Fountain Dorothy Television film 1971–1972 The Partners Michelle / Denise / Jessica 2 episodes 1972 O'Hara, U.S. Treasury Inez Malcolm Episode: "Operation: Rake-Off" 1973 Jarrett Luluwa Television film The Magician Dr. Nora Zabriskie Episode: "The Man Who Lost Himself" Kojak Liz Episode: "Dark Sunday" 1974 Emergency! Edna Johnson Episode: "Gossip" 1976 Holmes & Yoyo Sherri Episode: "Key Witness" 1977 The Six Million Dollar Man Lena Bannister Episode: "The Infiltrators" 1979 Starsky & Hutch Carol Episode: "Starsky vs. Hutch" 1983 Fantasy Island Cindy Episode: "Remember... When?" 2009–2011 Olivia Grandma (voice) 29 episodes