Yvonne Joyce Craig (born May 16, 1937) is an American actress known for her role as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series Batman.

Early life and career

Yvonne Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois. She was originally trained to be a ballet dancer and was a member of the corps de ballet of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the 1950s. Gradually, she moved into acting, and in 1959 appeared in three films: The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget. In 1960, she appeared as a busty young coed with Bing Crosby in High Time, where she met and married singer/actor Jimmy Boyd. In the following year, she appeared with Cesar Romero in Seven Women from Hell. Romero would later play one of the primary villains in Batman. Another connection to Batman occurred when Craig appeared in "The Case of the Lazy Lover", a 1958 episode of the television series Perry Mason, which also featured Neil Hamilton as her stepfather. Hamilton would later play her father in Batman.

After divorcing Boyd in 1962, Yvonne starred in several films, including roles with Elvis Presley in "It Happened At The World's Fair" and Kissin' Cousins and with Dennis Hopper, and appeared in In Like Flint (the sequel to Our Man Flint) as a Russian Ballet dancer opposite James Coburn.

Move into television

In the mid-1960s, with film roles beginning to taper off, she moved into television, notably as Marta, a green-skinned Orion in the third season Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" (1968). In this episode, she is interned in an insane asylum and does a memorable dance number.

In a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Brain Killer Affair"), she helps solve the mystery of a brain-endangering poison. In 1966 U.N.C.L.E. released a theatrical film, One Spy Too Many. This was made from a two-part episode plus new footage with more violence and risque content than seen on television. Craig was hired to do a semi-nude sunbathing scene and carry on a flirtatious relationship with Napoleon Solo.

In a 1966 episode of The Wild Wild West ("The Night of the Grand Emir"), she plays an assassin who does an exotic Arabian dance. She also played an exotic dancer in an episode of McHale's Navy ("Pumpkin Takes Over", 1965). And she appeared in an episode of The Big Valley with Lee Majors and Barbara Stanwyck.

In a 1968 episode of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir ("Haunted Honeymoon"), she plays a bride-to-be stranded overnight at Gull Cottage.

But her fame would come with the cult 1960s television series Batman as Batgirl.

Her spouses were:

Kenneth Aldrich (1988 - ?)

Jimmy Boyd (1960–1962) (divorced)

Batman

Most famously, in Batman, she had the role of Batgirl (and her alter ego, librarian Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon's daughter). She appeared in the final 1967–1968 season. Batgirl's true identity was unknown to Batman and Robin, and their true identity was unknown to her; only Alfred, the butler for Bruce Wayne/Batman, was aware of Batgirl's identity.

Although the Batman TV show has been criticized as "campy," (and Adam West himself said that the show was intentionally a lampoon and farce) many have praised Yvonne Craig's portrayal as having paved the way for many other television heroines in the years that followed. Craig appeared in the last season of the series and was often put in "perilous" situations, along with Batman and Robin.

Craig felt some connection to the character and complained to DC Comics about her fate after Barbara Gordon was shot/paralyzed by The Joker in the 1988 graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke.

Later career

After Batman, Yvonne Craig continued to act sporadically in movies and television. Notably, she appeared in guest roles in Love, American Style (the first episode), Kentucky Jones, It Takes a Thief, The Mod Squad, and Emergency! From 1969–1972, she appeared in four episodes of the comedy series Love, American Style. She also did a guest role on The Six Million Dollar Man (1974).

Craig eventually moved into private business. For a time, she was a coproducer of industrial shows, after which she worked successfully in the real estate business. She maintains her own internet website.

Craig appears in the documentary Ballets Russes.

Selected filmography

Gidget (1959)

The Gene Krupa Story (1959)

High Time (1960)

By Love Possessed (1961)

Seven Women from Hell (1961)

It Happened at the World's Fair (1963)

Kissin' Cousins (1964)

Ski Party (1965)

Mars Needs Women (1966)

One Spy Too Many (1966)

In Like Flint (1967)

How to Frame a Figg (1971)