Batgirl Yvonne Craig Dies at 78

Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl on the 1960s TV series Batman alongside Adam West and Burt Ward, died this week after a battle with breast cancer. She was 78 years old.

Craig joined the campy series in its third season in 1967, portraying the crime-fighting heroine who was the alter ego of Barbara Gordon, an unassuming librarian and the daughter of police Commissioner Gordon.

A classically trained ballerina, Craig brought her athletic skills to the role, contributing to the series' trademark "Bang-Smash-Pow" fight scenes. Craig went on to a memorable role in another classic TV series, Star Trek, in which she played a green-skinned Orion slave girl named Marta.

Before Batman, Craig's acting credits included roles in two Elvis Presley films, 1963's It Happened at the World's Fair and 1964's Kissin' Cousins. She made appearances in many popular series in the 1970s, including The Six Million Dollar Man, Emergency!, Mod Squad, The Wild Wild West and Fantasy Island.

Craig's introduction on the Batman series was intended not just to lure male viewers with her character's sex appeal, but to draw young female viewers, as well. As a role model for young women, her Batgirl gets credit for paving the way for female heroines from Linda Carter's Wonder Woman to Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow.

Craig had been battling cancer for the past two years, according to her family, and she passed away Monday at her home in Pacific Palisades, California.