Yvonne Craig

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yvonne Joyce Craig (born May 16, 1937 in Taylorville , Illinois , USA ; † August 17, 2015 in Los Angeles ) was an American actress who has appeared in more than 80 films and television series. Before becoming an actress in 1957, she studied ballet and was a member of the renowned Ballets Russes between 1954 and 1957 .

Childhood and youth

Yvonne Craig only spent the first few years of life in Illinois, as her parents moved to Columbus , Ohio as early as 1940 . The family moved to Dallas , Texas around 1950 , where Yvonne studied ballet at the renowned Edith James School . At a Christmas gala, the Russian prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova , who was present as a guest of honor, became aware of Yvonne's talent and referred her to the Ballets Russes , which she joined in 1954 as their youngest member. After a disagreement with her former sponsor, Craig left the company in 1957 and went to Los Angeles to study dance at the Eugene Loring School . The film producer Edmond Chevie, who already wanted to win Craig over for a film production during her engagement with the Ballets Russes (which had failed at the time, because Yvonne would rather dance ballet than make films), approached her again and was successful this time. Because Yvonne Craig thought it was a good opportunity to temporarily get involved in acting until she found a job with ballet again.

Movie and TV

In 1957, she shot the Western Land without Law (The Young Land ), which was only released in cinemas in 1959, her first film alongside Patrick Wayne , a son of John Wayne . Although she has also appeared in feature films again and again - for example in the two Elvis Presley films Ob blond, ob braun ( It happened at the world's fair , 1963), in which she played a supporting role, and Die wilden Weiber von Tennessee ( Kissin 'Cousins , 1964), in which she played the leading female role - she was seen more often in television series; for example between 1960 and 1964 four times in the series 77 Sunset Strip , three times in 911 California (1973 and 1974) and twice in Mannix (1969 and 1973). In addition, she had several one-off guest appearances in series such as Mein Unkel vom Mars or Big Valley (both 1965), Your appearance, Al Mundy (1968), Raumschiff Enterprise (1969), Kojak - Einsatz in Manhattan (1973) and Starsky & Hutch ( 1979). But she landed her greatest success with the television film Batgirl and her role of the same name in the subsequent third season (1967/68) of the television series Batman with a total of 26 episodes.

Marriage and partnership

Yvonne Craig met actor Jimmy Boyd around 1960 and soon married him, but the marriage lasted only two years. Her next significant partner was comedian Mort Sahl , with whom she dated for more than three years. While making the Batman series, she was dating actor Bill Bixby . In 1988 she married the real estate king Kenneth Aldrich, with whom she lived for 17 years.

The later years

After ending her acting career, she got into the real estate business and later had her own brokerage office in Southern California . She was also involved in a calling card company and gave acting lessons from time to time. She also went on extensive trips with her husband, especially to Africa . In September 2000 she published her autobiography, From Ballet to The Batcave and Beyond . Craig died of complications from breast cancer on August 17, 2015 at her home in Pacific Palisades , a borough of Los Angeles .

Web links

Commons : Yvonne Craig  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Katie Rogers: Yvonne Craig, Actress Who Played Batgirl, Is Dead at 78. In: The New York Times, August 19, 2015 (accessed August 20, 2015).