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Yvonne Craig
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Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman. Other notable roles in her career include Dorothy Johnson in the 1963 movie It Happened at the World's Fair, Azalea Tatum in the 1964 movie Kissin' Cousins, and the green-skinned Orion Marta in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" (1969). The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. Craig was a philanthropist and "an advocate for workers unions, free mammograms, and equal pay for women".
Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, the first of Maurice Melvin and Pauline Virginia (née Rogers) Craig's three children. Craig's father's work caused the family to move in 1951 from Columbus, Ohio to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Craig first attended W. H. Adamson High School for a semester and then Sunset High School for three years.
She did not graduate high school due to the lack of "a single PE credit". Craig explained the lack of credit, saying "The funny thing about the PE credit is, I was going to the Edith James School of Ballet, and she'd have recitals at the art museum, and [the PE teacher] would come see me dance my little legs off, and then I'd come in to PE class, wrapped up, and claim I'd sprained and couldn't play a sport". Craig had enough credits to get into college and attended UCLA, but did not graduate.
Craig started studying ballet at the age of 10 at the Edith James School of Ballet in Dallas. She was discovered there by the Russian ballerina Alexandra Danilova. While still in high school, Danilova helped her obtain a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York City. While there, the 16 year-old Craig lived with roommate and future comedienne Carol Burnett at the Rehearsal Club on West 53rd Street.
In 1954 and at 17 years of age, Craig joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. She was a professional ballerina with the company for three years. This training was helpful when she performed stunts while playing Batgirl. She left the ballet company in 1957 "over a disagreement on casting changes" and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of continuing her dancing career.
Craig explained how her acting career started in Los Angeles, saying "...this guy invited me to his office and said, 'I'm making a movie, do you want to be in it?' I said, 'No, I'm a ballet dancer and working my way toward soloist... I don't want to be an actress'. But we became friends, so one night we're out to dinner, and this man comes to the table and said John Ford's son Patrick was going to make a movie with John Wayne's son, who was also named Patrick. He asked, 'Are you an actress?' I couldn't talk – I had my mouth full – and the guy who took me out said, 'She is, and I'm her manager, what can we do for you?'". The movie was 1959's The Young Land, which also starred Dennis Hopper. Craig was paid US$750 a week (equivalent to $8,283 in 2025) to act in the film, versus the $94 a week she had earned in ballet.
One of her earliest television roles was in an episode of the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover", 1958) alongside Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather (later Hamilton played Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batgirl's father). Also, on 4 April 1958 she had a role on a CBS Schlitz Playhouse production, "Papa Said No." She appeared in three 1959 films – The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget – and also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode "Little Miss Wow" (also 1959).
In 1960, Craig appeared with Bing Crosby in High Time, where she met her costar and soon-to-be husband Jimmy Boyd. In 1961, she appeared in Seven Women from Hell, featured alongside Cesar Romero, and, in 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back". Boyd and Craig divorced that year.
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Yvonne Craig
Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman. Other notable roles in her career include Dorothy Johnson in the 1963 movie It Happened at the World's Fair, Azalea Tatum in the 1964 movie Kissin' Cousins, and the green-skinned Orion Marta in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" (1969). The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. Craig was a philanthropist and "an advocate for workers unions, free mammograms, and equal pay for women".
Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, the first of Maurice Melvin and Pauline Virginia (née Rogers) Craig's three children. Craig's father's work caused the family to move in 1951 from Columbus, Ohio to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Craig first attended W. H. Adamson High School for a semester and then Sunset High School for three years.
She did not graduate high school due to the lack of "a single PE credit". Craig explained the lack of credit, saying "The funny thing about the PE credit is, I was going to the Edith James School of Ballet, and she'd have recitals at the art museum, and [the PE teacher] would come see me dance my little legs off, and then I'd come in to PE class, wrapped up, and claim I'd sprained and couldn't play a sport". Craig had enough credits to get into college and attended UCLA, but did not graduate.
Craig started studying ballet at the age of 10 at the Edith James School of Ballet in Dallas. She was discovered there by the Russian ballerina Alexandra Danilova. While still in high school, Danilova helped her obtain a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York City. While there, the 16 year-old Craig lived with roommate and future comedienne Carol Burnett at the Rehearsal Club on West 53rd Street.
In 1954 and at 17 years of age, Craig joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. She was a professional ballerina with the company for three years. This training was helpful when she performed stunts while playing Batgirl. She left the ballet company in 1957 "over a disagreement on casting changes" and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of continuing her dancing career.
Craig explained how her acting career started in Los Angeles, saying "...this guy invited me to his office and said, 'I'm making a movie, do you want to be in it?' I said, 'No, I'm a ballet dancer and working my way toward soloist... I don't want to be an actress'. But we became friends, so one night we're out to dinner, and this man comes to the table and said John Ford's son Patrick was going to make a movie with John Wayne's son, who was also named Patrick. He asked, 'Are you an actress?' I couldn't talk – I had my mouth full – and the guy who took me out said, 'She is, and I'm her manager, what can we do for you?'". The movie was 1959's The Young Land, which also starred Dennis Hopper. Craig was paid US$750 a week (equivalent to $8,283 in 2025) to act in the film, versus the $94 a week she had earned in ballet.
One of her earliest television roles was in an episode of the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover", 1958) alongside Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather (later Hamilton played Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batgirl's father). Also, on 4 April 1958 she had a role on a CBS Schlitz Playhouse production, "Papa Said No." She appeared in three 1959 films – The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget – and also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode "Little Miss Wow" (also 1959).
In 1960, Craig appeared with Bing Crosby in High Time, where she met her costar and soon-to-be husband Jimmy Boyd. In 1961, she appeared in Seven Women from Hell, featured alongside Cesar Romero, and, in 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back". Boyd and Craig divorced that year.
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