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 on the 1960s ' television series Batman and Marta her character, the Orion slave girl Marta as seen in Star Trek's episode "Whom Gods Deceive" (1969). The Huffington Post referred to her as "a pioneer in female superheroes" on TV. Yvonne Craig was raised in Columbus and was born in Taylorville in Illinois. Her family moved to Dallas in 1951. She attended W. H. Adamson High School, Sunset High School as well as W. H. Adamson High School. Unfortunately, she didn't graduate because she was not awarded "one credits for PE". After being discovered by Alexandra Danilova, a ballerina and teacher, Craig joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as the youngest corps de ballet participant. The training helped her when she was performing stunts playing Batgirl. In 1957 she left the ballet company due to a dispute over casting changes. She then moved to Los Angeles with the hope to continue her career in dance. However, she discovered herself in film roles. She was first seen in an TV episode of Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover") with Neil Hamilton. Hamilton later became the Batgirl's police commissioner James Gordon. After her appearances in 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), which featured Cesar Romero. In 1962, she appeared as a guest star in the Western Laramie episode "The Long Road Back". Craig also starred with Elvis Presley's character in It happened at the World's Fair (1963), and Kissin Cousins (64). She also starred as a Russian dancer with James Coburn in Mars Needs Women (1966).