Yvonne Craig Dead – Original Batgirl Dies at 78

Craig passed away at home in Pacific Palisades, California on Monday night (17Aug15) following a battle with breast cancer, which had spread to her liver. She had undergone chemotherapy treatment for two years.

“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”, the statement said.

“I meet women today who tell me that they grew up viewing Batgirl as an important role model”.

Trained as a dancer, the Illinois-born Craig joined the Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo when she was 17, making her the youngest member of the troupe.

“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”. It wasn’t until the third season of “Batman” where Craig would make an appearance as Batgirl.

After starting her career in ballet, Yvonne went on to star opposite Elvis Presley in two of his movies before landing her role on the 1960s ABC series Batman.

“Most of the joy in my current life can be traced back in some way to seeing Yvonne Craig be amazing as Batgirl, my first real life hero”, said Gil Simone, a former writer of the Batgirl comics.

After Batgirl, she appeared in television series The Six Million Dollar Man, Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak and the original TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In 2000, she wrote a book called From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond, which took stock of her career.

As news broke of her death, fans shared what Craig meant to them.

Craig is survived by her husband, sister and nephews. A private service is being planned with no date set at the present time.