Yvonne Joyce Craig

Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16 1936 - August 17 15th, 2015) was an American dancer, dancer, and choreographer. Craig is most well-known for her roles in Batman's 1960s TV series Batman and Marta, an Orion slave girl sporting green skin in Star Trek's 1969 episode "Whom Gods Destruction". The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer in female superheroes that were adapted for television." Yvonne Craig was born and raised in Taylorville, Illinois. Her family in 1951 moved to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas, where she went to W. H. Adamson High School and later Sunset High School, from which she did not be able to graduate due to the absence of "a single PE credit". Craig was found by Alexandra Danilova (a ballerina and teacher) and was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1951, becoming the youngest corps de ballet member. When she was playing Batgirl the training proved to be very helpful. In 1957, she left the company "over a disagreement over casting changes". She relocated to Los Angeles in hopes of being able to continue her career in dance. But she was soon cast in films roles. One of her first television performances was in the TV series Perry Mason ("The Case of the Lazy Lover") in 1958 , alongside Neil Hamilton. Hamilton later was the Batgirl's stepfather, police Commissioner James Gordon. She was in three movies shortly after, The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story and Gidget (all 1959). Craig also appeared on the TV series Mr. Lucky, as Beverly Mills, in the episode "Little Miss Wow" Also in 1959. Craig starred alongside Bing Crosby (1960), and Seven Women from Hell (1961) with Cesar Romero. In 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back".Craig starred in roles with Elvis Presley in two films The other was It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964). She also starred in the science fiction film Mars Needs Women (1966) and appeared in In Like Flint (1967) as the role of a Russian ballet dancer alongside James Coburn.