Yvonne Craig

Infobox actor
bgcolour =
name = Yvonne Craig


imagesize = 200px
caption = Yvonne Craig, early '60s.
birthname = Yvonne Craig
birthdate = Birth date and age|1937|5|16|mf=y
location = flagicon|USA Taylorville, Illinois, U.S.
parents = Maurice and Pauline Craig
yearsactive = 1957–1990
spouse = Jimmy Boyd (1960–62)
homepage = http://www.yvonnecraig.com/
notable role = Batgirl "Batman"

Marta ""

Yvonne Joyce Craig (born May 16, 1937 in Taylorville, Illinois) is an American actress best known as Batgirl from the 1960s TV series "Batman".

Biography

Early life and career

Yvonne Craig was originally trained to be a ballet dancer and was a member of the corps de ballet of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the 1950s. [http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=balletsrusses] Gradually, she moved into acting, and in 1959, she appeared in no less than three films: "The Young Land", "The Gene Krupa Story", and "Gidget". In 1960, she appeared as a busty young coed with Bing Crosby in "High Time", where she met and married singer/actor Jimmy Boyd. After their divorce in 1962, Yvonne starred in several films, including roles with Elvis Presley and Dennis Hopper, and appeared in "In Like Flint" (the sequel to "Our Man Flint") as a Russian Ballet dancer opposite James Coburn.

Move into television

In the mid-1960s, with film roles beginning to taper off, she moved into television, notably as Marta, a green-skinned Orion slave girl in the third season "" episode "Whom Gods Destroy." In this episode, she is interned in an insane asylum in space. In one "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." episode, she helps solve the mystery of a brain-endangering poison. [ [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/5733/craigcred.html Yvonne Craig's Film and TV Credits ] ] [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/the-man-from-u-n-c-l-e-the-brain-killer-affair-tv-episode?cat=entertainment The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Brain-Killer Affair ...: Information and Much More from Answers.com ] ] In an episode of "The Wild Wild West", she is an assassin. She also appeared in an episode of McHale's Navy "Pumpkin Takes Over", 1965, where Capt Binghamton's wife pays a visit to Taratupa while he in the midst of producing a show starring exotic dancer (Yvonne Craig) and Admiral Rogers mistakes the dancer for Binghamton's wife.

"Batman"

Most famously, in "Batman", she had the role of Batgirl (and her alter ego, librarian Barbara Gordon) on the 1960s TV series. [ [http://www.tv.com/yvonne-craig/person/6549/appearances.html Yvonne Craig Movies - Yvonne Craig Film - Yvonne Craig TV Shows ] ]

Although the "Batman" TV show has been criticized as "campy," many have praised Yvonne Craig's portrayal as having paved the way for many other television heroines in the years that followed. Craig appeared in the last season of the series and was often put in "perilous" situations, along with Batman and Robin.

Craig still has felt some connection to the character and complained about her fate when Barbara was paralyzed and violated by The Joker in the acclaimed story, "The Killing Joke". Furthermore, Craig was not satisfied with Barbara Gordon becoming the superhacker, Oracle, leader of the Birds of Prey.

Later career

After "Batman", Yvonne Craig continued to act sporadically in movies and television. Notably, she appeared in guest roles in "It Takes a Thief", "The Mod Squad", and "Emergency!" From 1969–1972, she appeared in four episodes of the comedy series "Love, American Style." [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186051/ Yvonne Craig ] ]

Craig eventually moved into private business. For a time, she was a coproducer of industrial shows, after which she worked successfully in the real estate business. She maintains her own internet website.

Craig appears in the documentary "Ballets Russes".

elected filmography

*"The Young Land" (1959)
*"Gidget" (1959)
*"The Gene Krupa Story" (1959)
*"High Time" (1960)
*"By Love Possessed" (1961)
*"It Happened at the World's Fair" (1963)
*"Kissin' Cousins" (1963)
*"Ski Party" (1965)
*"Mars Needs Women" (1966)
*"In Like Flint" (1967)
*"How to Frame a Figg (1971)"

See also

*Batman (TV series)
*Batgirl

Bibliography

*cite book
first=Yvonne | last=Craig | year=2000
title=From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond
publisher=Kudu Press | location=New York
id=ISBN 0967807565

References

*cite web
last = Erickson | first = Hal | year=2007
url =http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=15578
title=Yvonne Craig | work=All Movie Guide
publisher=New York Times | accessdate=2007-06-27
*cite web
last =McLeod | first =Mike | year=2007
url =http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/batgirl.htm
title=It's African Mask for TV's Batgirl
publisher=The Celebrity Collector
accessdate=2007-06-27

External links

* [http://www.yvonnecraig.com/ Yvonne Craig's Official Personal Home Page]
* [http://entertainment.msn.com/Celebs/celeb.aspx?c=329707 MSN Entertainment - Yvonne Craig]
*imdb name|id=0186051|name=Yvonne Craig
* [http://www.tv.com/person/6549/summary.html Yvonne Craig] at TV.com
* [http://www.batfriend.com/data/yvonne/yvonne_bio.htm Bat-Bios - Yvonne Craig]
* [http://www.elvis2001.net/yvonne%20craig%20interview%20with%20joe%20krein.htm Yvonne Craig Interview at Elvis2001.net]
*memoryalpha