- Born
- Died
- Birth nameYvonne Joyce Craig
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Yvonne Joyce Craig was born on May 16, 1937 in Taylorville, Illinois. As a young teenager, Yvonne showed such promise as a dancer that she was accepted to Denham's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Her training progressed until she left the company in 1957 over a disagreement on casting changes. She moved to Los Angeles hoping to continue her dancing, but was soon cast in movies. At first, Yvonne had small roles in movies such as Gidget (1959) and The Gene Krupa Story (1959). After that, her film career just bumped along. As Yvonne was dating Elvis Presley at the time, she did have a supporting role in the two Elvis movies, It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964).
But her fame would come with the cult television series Batman (1966) in which she played Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara. Her secret identity was Batgirl and as the Commissioner's daughter, she had access to all the calls of trouble taking place in Gotham City. Her character, Batgirl, was part of the 1967-68 season, which was the end of the run for the series. After Batman (1966), she also appeared on other television series such as Star Trek (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). As her career wound down, Yvonne went into the real estate business. Yvonne Craig died at age 78 of breast cancer at her home in Pacific Palisades, California on August 17, 2015.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
- SpousesKenneth Aldrich(1988 - August 17, 2015) (her death)Jimmy Boyd(August 15, 1960 - 1962) (divorced)
- ChildrenNo Children
- ParentsMaurice CraigPauline Craig
- RelativesMeridel Carson (Craig)(Sibling)Christopher Carson(Niece or Nephew)Todd Carson(Niece or Nephew)
- Seductive breathy voice
- Her iconic role as Batgirl on Batman (1966)
- Her bright smile
- Her rhythmic walk
- Became very upset when she found out that Barbara Gordon, who she played on Batman (1966), was going to become a paraplegic after getting shot by the Joker in the 1988 graphic novel "Batman: The Killing Joke." In fact, she even wrote a letter to DC Comics expressing her displeasure with what they had done with the character.
- Was in a relationship with Bill Bixby.
- Was friends with Batman (1966) co-star Vincent Price.
- Is one of the youngest dancers to become a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
- Is also a philanthropist and advocate for workers unions, free mammograms, and equal pay for women.
- [on the cancellation of Batman (1966)] When we were canceled by ABC, we wondered if we could get another network. When it looked like we couldn't, they came with a bulldozer and bulldozed the whole set. Then two weeks later NBC said "Listen, we would like to take a shot at Batman if you still have the sets." They didn't want to start from scratch and build them because the set cost $800,000. So it was too late, nothing came of it.
- I meet women today who tell me that they grew up viewing Batgirl as an important role model. If they choose to know me in that context, well, I'll take it.
- One of the reasons I did the Batman (1966) series was so people would attach a name to my face. Before that, I had done a lot of television, but all people would say was "Oh, that's um, um, what IS her name?".
- I meet young women who say Batgirl was their role model. They say it's because it was the first time they ever felt girls could do the same thing guys could do, and sometimes better. I think that's lovely.
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