Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig, May 16 1937 - - August 17, 2015. Craig was an American actress and ballet-dancer popular for her performances as Batgirl on the 1960s TV show Batman and Marta her character, Marta, the Orion slave girl Marta who appeared in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Deceive" (1969). The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer in female superheroes for television." Yvonne Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, and was raised in Columbus, Ohio. Her family in 1951 moved to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, where she attended W. H. Adamson High School and then Sunset High School, from which she didn't be able to graduate due to the absence of "a single PE credit". Craig was found by Alexandra Danilova (a ballerina and teacher) and was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and became its youngest corps de ballet member. This training was helpful in her stunt work while acting as Batgirl. She quit the ballet company in the year 1957 "over a disagreement on casting decisions" and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of continuing her dancing career, but was playing films. Her first television role was on the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover") in 1958 with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton later was the Batgirl's stepfather, police Commissioner James Gordon. In the years following her appearances on The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story (all 1959) and Gidget (all 1958) she was also in guest roles as Beverly Mills on the TV show Mr. Lucky (also 1959). Craig appeared in films with Bing Crosby (1960), and Seven Women from Hell (1961) in which she was portrayed by Cesar Romero. In 1962, she was a guest star in the television show Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back".Craig starred in roles with Elvis Presley in two films which included It Happened At the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin Cousins (1964). In 1966, she appeared in Mars Needs Women. In 1967, she played an Russian ballet dancer in In Like Flint.