TV's First Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dies at 78

The woman best remembered as the original Batgirl in the 1960’s “Batman” TV Series has died of cancer.  Yvonne Craig passed away at her home in Pacific Palisades, surrounded by her immediate family and comforted by Hospice on August 17, 2015.

A message from the actress’ family on her official website reads:

For those who have known her personally, you already know what a down to earth, most exceptional person she was, so I’m sure you can understand this loss has touched all of our lives.

Yvonne was a very private person, so from the onset of her battle with cancer, she decided to share with immediate family and very close friends. She wanted to spend all of her energy concentrating on winning her battle. She was adamant about this and wanted to tell her story when she was cured and feeling better.  We all respected that wish.

Having spent time with her over these past months, she made her wishes known to me and made me promise I would pass them along.  Wish Number One, is that her family, friends and fans would know how much she loved them and always treasured her time with them. Wish Number Two, was that no one waste a moment of their time in mourning for her loss in sadness but instead celebrate the awesome life she had been fortunate enough to live. She felt that she lived a wonderful life and was blessed in many ways.

She was able to travel the world and see many places. Yvonne spent quality time with those that she loved and was able to accomplish many goals and ambitions that she set for herself. Yvonne excelled in ballet, a film career, a business life, as well as in philanthropic and charity work over the years. She had been able to do this with joy and much laughter and she wouldn’t have changed a thing.  Well, maybe one thing and that would have been not to get cancer.

Please celebrate Yvonne in your own way and the work she has left behind for you to continue to remember her by and enjoy.

yvonne-craig-with-burt-ward

 

Yvonne Craig began her theatrical career as the youngest member of The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and toured for three years when she was accidentally discovered by John Ford’s son Patrick and cast for the lead in the movie The Young Land.

Over a span of years she appeared as a guest star in many television series, including The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Six Million Dollar Man,Land of the Giants, Mod Squad, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Love American Style, Emergency, and Courtship of Eddie’s Father just to name a few and worked opposite Bing Crosby, Sal Mineo, Don Knotts, George Hamilton, Dwayne Hickman, Dennis Hopper as well as Elvis Presley and James Coburn.

She played Marta, the green Orion slave girl who wants to kill Captain Kirk in the 1969 episode “Whom Gods Destroy” of the original “Star Trek” series.

But it is perhaps as Batgirl in the 1966 TV series of “Batman” that she is best known for.

“I just can’t believe people are still watching it over 30 years later,” the actress mar­vels. “I really didn’t think we were mak­ing Gone With the Wind—just an episodic TV series that would be over when it was over and then it would never rerun again. I’ve been told that Batman has apparently never stopped rerunning somewhere in the world. That blows my mind!” – from “Recalling Batgirl, an interview by Pat Jankiewicz

In 2000, Ms. Craig wrote a book of anecdotal memoirs, From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond, which covered some of her years in the ballet and her theatrical career.

She actively did voice over work including voicing the role of Grandma in the 2009 Olivia cartoon series for Nickelodeon, and she was recently Executive Producer for the documentary feature film BIRTH.

http://www.yvonnecraig.com/news/2015/08/19/a-word-from-yvonne-craigs-family/

http://www.yvonnecraig.com/news/2015/08/19/yvonne-craigs-official-obituary/

News Reporter

1 thought on “TV's First Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dies at 78

  1. I always loved the Batman episodes with Batgirl. There was something about her character (as portrayed by Ms. Craig) that I could not resist. She will be missed by many.

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