Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16 1937 - 17 August the 17th of August, 2015) was an American dancer and actress popular for her character as Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman as well as her role as the green-skinned Orion slave girl Marta in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" (1969). The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. Yvonne Craig was born and raised in Taylorville, Illinois. In 1951 , her family moved from Illinois to Dallas. There she attended W. H. Adamson High School in Dallas and Sunset High School. However she did not complete her studies as she did not have "one PE credit". Craig was accepted into Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as the youngest corps de ballerina after being discovered by Alexandra Danilova who is a dancer and teacher. In the role of Batgirl and was a Batgirl, the lessons proved to be very helpful. In 1957, she left the ballet company due to disagreements about casting changes. After that, she relocated to Los Angeles with the hope to continue her career in dance. However, she discovered herself in film roles. Her first TV appearances was on the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover") in the year 1958 with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton later was the Batgirl's stepfather, police Commissioner James Gordon. She appeared in three films following the show, The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story and Gidget (all 1959). She also appeared as a guest in the TV series Mr. Lucky, as Beverly Mills, in the episode "Little Miss Wow" which was also a 1959. Craig was seen in the films Bing Crosby and Seven Women from Hell (1960), where she was in a duet with Cesar Romero. In 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back".Craig appeared in roles with Elvis Presley in two films which included It Happened At the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin Cousins (1964). In the year 1966, she played in Mars Needs Women. In 1967, she played an Russian ballet dancer in In Like Flint.