Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig, 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 her character, Marta, the Orion slave girl Marta from Star Trek's episode "Whom Gods Deceive" (1969). The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for the television. Yvonne Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, and was raised in Columbus, Ohio. In 1951, her family relocated to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, where she went to 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 joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1951, becoming the youngest corps de ballet member. In the role of Batgirl the training proved to be very helpful. In 1957, she quit the company's ballet program due to an issue concerning casting changes. She then moved to Los Angeles with the hope of making it a career for her. However, she soon found herself appearing in film roles. One of her first TV appearances was in the episode of the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover" 1958) together with Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather (later Hamilton played Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batgirl's father). Shortly afterwards, she appeared in three films, including The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget (all 1959)--and she also appeared in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode "Little Miss Wow" (also 1959). Craig made an appearance with Bing Crosby in High Time (1960) and in Seven Women from Hell (1961) was a co-star with 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 which included It Happened At the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964). In 1966, she played in Mars Needs Women. In 1967, she appeared as an Russian dancer on In Like Flint.