Sad news.
Yvonne Craig has passed away after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 78.
Craig was a bright and bubbly actress who broke out in the 1960s with roles in movies and TV series like “Star Trek.”
To me, she’ll always be Barbara Gordon, who slipped into a cape and cowl and became Batgirl on the 1960s “Batman” series.
She’s already missed.
This installment of Today in Halloween comes all the way from the fall of 1967.
Yvonne Craig has been added to the “Batman” series in its third season, playing Batgirl.
By most accounts, executives thought the addition of Batgirl would attract more young girls to the series, although I think it’s more likely that Craig brought more adolescent boys and men to the TV.
Anyway, something during that fall of 1967, this photo of Craig with a little pumpkin and trick-or-treat bag was released.
Why? We don’t know.
Why is it here now? Yvonne Craig, of course.
It’s safe to say Yvonne Craig sparked more than a few transitions from boyhood to manhood for male TV viewers in the 1960s
That’s because Craig made a heck of an impression on us as Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl, in the “Batman” series.
Craig, born in 1937, was a ballet dancer before appearing in a variety of TV series, including “The Man from UNCLE” and “The Wild, Wild West.”
Her appearance as a green-skinned seductress in the “Star Trek” episode “Whom Gods Destroy” – the second chartreuse woman in the series – is no doubt responsible for the presence of a green-tinged woman in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
But all it took was for Craig to join the “Batman” cast for her to forever be a fanboy favorite.
Craig, as Batgirl, was added to the cast for the final season in 1967.
The impression her outfit – sparkly purple suit with yellow cape and hip-hugging yellow utility belt – made on a nation of us was truly great.
Here’s to Yvonne Craig.
keithroysdon 