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TV's 1960s 'Batgirl' Yvonne Craig dies at age 78
LOS ANGELES - Yvonne Craig, the American actress and dancer who played Batgirl in the 1960s TV series "Batman," has died at the age of 78 after battling cancer, her family said on Wednesday.
Craig, whose Batgirl character dressed in a glitzy purple bodysuit and yellow cape, was diagnosed with breast cancer some years ago and the cancer recently spread to her liver, her family said in a statement on her official website.
She died on Monday at her home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood near Los Angeles, they said.
Craig played Batgirl and her alter ego librarian Barbara Gordon in 1967 and 1968, opposite Adam West's Batman.
In 1969, she played Marta, a green-skinned Orion slave girl who attempted to kill Captain Kirk in television's "Star Trek" series.
Throughout her career, she also made guest appearances on TV including on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Fantasy Island," "The Mod Squad" and "The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis."
Throughout her career, she also made guest appearances on TV including on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Fantasy Island," "The Mod Squad" and "The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis."
In the early 1960s, she also starred in two movies opposite Elvis Presley in "It Happened at the World's Fair" and "Kissin' Cousins."
Craig originally trained as a ballet dancer and moved into acting in the late 1950s.
Craig's family said on her website that the actress had made clear in her final months that she wanted no-one to mourn for her "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 is survived by her husband Kenneth Aldrich and sister Meridel Carson.
Image credit: www.yvonnecraig.com
The obituary also said Craig and her husband "have also been advocates of education and long time supporters of education on all levels. They are actively involved with the Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, two different charter schools, and the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals out of St. Mary’s College of California better known as LEAP. She also volunteered time and tutored and mentored disadvantaged students."
"Her operation right before Christmas, removed portions of her liver and some tumors as well as her gallbladder (not infected but in the way) and honestly she never totally recovered from that and more malignancies showed up again much to our dismay. She had been in chemo almost continuously for the past two plus years since being diagnosed and that had weakened her immune system as well as her body. This didn’t dampen her sense of humor or her spirit, she intended to fight and win this battle. In the end, her mind still wanted to fight but her body had given up. Please celebrate Yvonne in your own way and the work she has left behind for you to continue to remember her by and enjoy," the post on Craig's website also said. — with Reuters/ELR, GMA News
Image credit: www.yvonnecraig.com
"Yvonne has been involved with social work as well as philanthropic work through the years, and was a public voice to support worker unions and equal pay for woman, as well as supporting free mammograms for women who cannot afford them," Craig's obituary on her official website said.
The obituary also said Craig and her husband "have also been advocates of education and long time supporters of education on all levels. They are actively involved with the Phillips Brooks House Association at Harvard, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, two different charter schools, and the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals out of St. Mary’s College of California better known as LEAP. She also volunteered time and tutored and mentored disadvantaged students."
Her website narrated how Craig "lost her battle with metastasized breast cancer that had gone to her liver."
