40 Rarely Seen Photos of a Young and Beautiful Yvonne Craig in the 1950s

Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress who is best known for her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the 1960s television series Batman. Other notable roles in her career include Dorothy Johnson in the 1963 movie It Happened at the World's Fair, Azalea Tatum in the 1964 movie Kissin’ Cousins, and as the green-skinned Orion Marta in the Star Trek episode “Whom Gods Destroy.”

Yvonne Craig trained as a ballet dancer and was accepted into the prestigious Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in her teens, making her one of the youngest dancers to join the company. Her dance background laid the foundation for her later acting work, especially her physical agility and grace in roles like Batgirl. She left the ballet company in 1957 “over a disagreement on casting changes” and moved to Los Angeles in the hopes of continuing her dancing career.

Craig explained how her acting career started in Los Angeles, saying “...this guy invited me to his office and said, ‘I’m making a movie, do you want to be in it?’ I said, ‘No, I’m a ballet dancer and working my way toward soloist... I don’t want to be an actress.’ But we became friends, so one night we’re out to dinner, and this man comes to the table and said John Ford’s son Patrick was going to make a movie with John Wayne’s son, who was also named Patrick. He asked, ’Are you an actress?’ I couldn’t talk - I had my mouth full - and the guy who took me out said, ‘She is, and I’m her manager, what can we do for you?’.” The movie was 1959’s The Young Land, which also starred Dennis Hopper. Craig was paid US $750 a week (equivalent to $8,090 in today) to act in the film, versus the $94 a week she had earned in ballet.

One of her earliest television roles was in an episode of the TV series Perry Mason (“The Case of the Lazy Lover”, 1958) alongside Neil Hamilton, who played her stepfather. Shortly afterwards, she appeared in three films—The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, and Gidget (all 1959)—and also guest-starred in the TV series Mr. Lucky as Beverly Mills in the episode “Little Miss Wow” (also 1959).

Below is a collection of 40 rarely seen photos of a young and beautiful Yvonne Craig in the 1950s: