Yvonne Craig, the actress who starred as the 1960s ABC series “Batman” as Batgirl, has died at 78, according to an announcement posted on her website.
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The news was announced on Craig’s official website, as her family revealed her battle with breast cancer over the past two years.
Before she began her TV career, Ms. Craig was a ballet dancer and traveled with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as the group’s youngest member.
She is survived by her husband, sister and two nephews.
Her star really took off in the 1960s, especially in 1964 and 1964, starring in two Elvis Presley movies – It Happened At The World’s Fair and Kissin’ Cousins.
A statement issued by her family said the illness “didn’t dampen her sense of humour or her spirit, she intended to fight and win….” Her first big screen roles came in the 1959 films, The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget.
While the statement addressed the tragedy of Craig’s death, it also stressed to joy of her life. When audience figures started to pall towards the end of the decade, the writers decided to freshen up the show by bringing in the character of Barbara Gordon, a good-looking librarian who pursues a second career as the crime-fighting Batgirl.
While Craig looked stunning in her skin tight costume, her Batgirl was really a Girl Scout at heart, the antithesis of the show’s naughty Catwoman.
On television, Craig appeared in series like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kojak, Mod Squad, and 77 Sunset Strip.
She wrote an autobiography and, in later years, did voiceover work.
In recent years, she worked in real estate and did voice work for a the Nickelodeon animated series “Olivia“.
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“In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Angeles Clinic Foundation in California”, the family added.
