Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16 1936 - - August 17 2015), was an American dancer, actress and choreographer. Craig is most well-known for her appearances in Batman's 1960s TV series Batman and Marta she was an Orion slave girl sporting green skin, in the Star Trek 1969 episode "Whom Gods Destruction". The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. Yvonne Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, and was raised in Columbus, Ohio. Her family relocated to Dallas in 1951. She attended W. H. Adamson High School, Sunset High School and then W. H. Adamson High School. The only problem was that she did not graduate due to the fact that she did not receive "one PE credit". Craig was found by Alexandra Danilova (a ballerina and teacher) and was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. The training helped her in her stunt work while playing Batgirl. In 1957 she left the ballet company because of disagreements about casting changes. She then moved to Los Angeles with the hope of continuing her dancing career. However, she did find herself in film roles. One of her first TV roles was in the episode from 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). The actress was featured in three films soon after, The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story and Gidget (all 1959). She also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky, as Beverly Mills, in the episode "Little Miss Wow" Also in 1959. Craig was seen in the films Bing Crosby and Seven Women from Hell (1960), in which she was joined by Cesar Romero. In 1962, she was an actress on Western Laramie's show "The Long Road Back". Craig also starred with Elvis Presley's roles in It Was at the World's Fair (1963), and Kissin Cousins (64). In the year 1966, she starred in Mars Needs Women. In 1967, she played an Russian ballet dancer in In Like Flint.