Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig, May 16 1937 from May 16, 1937 until August 17, 2015. Craig was an American dancer and actress who was famous for her portrayals as Batgirl in the 1960s' tv series Batman and Marta who played 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 on television." Yvonne Craig was raised in Columbus and was born in Taylorville in Illinois. Her family in 1951 moved to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, where she went to W. H. Adamson High School as well as Sunset High School, from which she didn't finish her education due to the absence of "a single PE credit". Craig was discovered by Alexandra Danilova (a ballerina and teacher) and joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. It was a great training that enabled her to do stunts in the role of Batgirl. In 1957, she left the company "over an issue with changes to casting". Then, she moved to Los Angeles in hopes of being able to continue her career in dance. However, she was soon cast in films roles. Her first appearance was in an episode of the TV episode of Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover") along with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton later was appointed the Batgirl's police commissioner James Gordon. Shortly afterwards, she appeared in three films - The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget (all 1959)--and also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode "Little Miss Wow" (also 1959). Craig was spotted with Bing Crosby and Seven Women from Hell (1960), where she was paired alongside Cesar Romero. In 1962, she guest-starred in the television show Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back".Craig starred in roles with Elvis Presley in two films The other was It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin Cousins (1964). In the year 1966, she was a part-time actress in Mars Needs Women. In 1967, she appeared as a Russian dancer on In Like Flint.