By Dave Siderski

Sadly, Yvonne Craig, best known for her role as “Batgirl” on the 1960’s TV series version of “Batman”, passed away on Monday at her Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles home, after a long two year battle with breast cancer.

Whoever invented the saying: “Men don’t make passes who girls who don’t wear glasses” apparently never got a glimpse of Yvonne Craig in the Batman series. Yvonne played role of conservative librarian Barbara Gordon, daughter of Commissioner Gordon. However, her alter ego was the sexy Batgirl, ally to Batman and Robin in their Gotham City crime fighting crusades.

Craig’s first appearance on the show was in the season three debut “Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin”, which aired on September 14, 1967. In it, she, as Batgirl, saves Batman and Robin from certain death at the hands of “The Penguin”, who was intending to drop the Caped Crusaders in a vat of boiling acid. Batgirl remained a prominent character on the show before it was cancelled in 1968.
Although Craig was best known for her role in Batman, she was also a prolific actress who appeared in numerous movies and television series in the 1950’s and 1960’s. She appeared alongside Elvis Presley in “It Happened at the World’s Fair” (1963) and “Kissin Cousins” (1964). Yvonne also had notable guest appearances on “My Three Sons”, “The Many Secret Loves of Dobie Gillis, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E”, “McHale’s Navy”, “The Big Valley”, and “Star Trek (The Original Series)”. Craig acting career tapered off after the Batman series ended. However, she still appeared occasionally in shows such as “Love American Style”, “Kojak”, “Emergency”, “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Family Feud”. Most recently she voiced over the character of “Grandma” for the Nickelodeon show Oliva from 2009-2011.

In addition to her acting career, Craig’s other passions included Real Estate, Travel, Social Work, and Philanthropy. She was an activist, involved in a number of causes including advocating free mammograms for women who can’t afford them.

Yvonne Craig, Rest in Peace, we fans of the Batman series and Batgirl character will miss you.

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