Yvonne Craig | |
---|---|
Born | Yvonne Joyce Craig May 16, 1937 Taylorville, Illinois, U.S. |
Died | August 17, 2015 78) | (aged
Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles School of American Ballet Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1957–2011 |
Known for | |
Spouses | |
Website | yvonnecraig |
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" (1969).
The Huffington Post called her "a pioneer of female superheroes" for television. [3]
Craig was a philanthropist and "an advocate for workers unions, free mammograms, and equal pay for women". [3] [4]
Yvonne Craig was born in Taylorville, Illinois, the first of Maurice Melvin and Pauline Virginia (née Rogers) Craig's three children. [5] Craig's father's work caused the family to move in 1951 from Columbus, Ohio [6] to the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Craig first attended W. H. Adamson High School for a semester and then Sunset High School for three years.
She did not graduate high school due to the lack of "a single PE credit". Craig explained the lack of credit, saying "The funny thing about the PE credit is, I was going to the Edith James School of Ballet, and she'd have recitals at the art museum, and [the PE teacher] would come see me dance my little legs off, and then I'd come in to PE class, wrapped up, and claim I'd sprained and couldn't play a sport". [7] Craig had enough credits to get into college and attended UCLA. [8]
Craig started studying ballet at the age of 10 at the Edith James School of Ballet in Dallas. She was discovered there by the Russian ballerina Alexandra Danilova. While still in high school, Danilova helped her obtain a scholarship to the School of American Ballet in New York City. While there, the 16 year-old Craig lived with roommate and future comedienne Carol Burnett at the Rehearsal Club on West 53rd Street. [9]
In 1954 and at 17 years of age, Craig joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo as its youngest corps de ballet member. [10] She was a professional ballerina with the company for three years. [11] [12] [10] [7] This training was helpful when she performed stunts while playing Batgirl. [4] 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. [8]
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. [7] Craig was paid US $750 a week (equivalent to $7,839in 2023) to act in the film, versus the $94 a week she had earned in ballet. [13]
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 (later Hamilton played Police Commissioner James Gordon, Batgirl's father). 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).
Craig appeared with Bing Crosby in High Time (1960) and in Seven Women from Hell (1961), featured alongside Cesar Romero. In 1962, she guest-starred on the Western Laramie in the episode "The Long Road Back". [14]
Craig appeared with Elvis Presley in two films: It Happened at the World's Fair (1963) and Kissin' Cousins (1964). She also starred in the low budget science fiction film Mars Needs Women (1966) with Tommy Kirk and appeared in In Like Flint (1967) as a Russian ballet dancer opposite James Coburn. [15]
During the 1960s, Craig regularly appeared in television drama series. She appeared five times on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis , portraying five separate girlfriends for the titular character between 1959 and 1962. In 1960, she played Jo, a young photographer with Charles Bronson in Man with a Camera . In 1964, Craig guest-starred as Carol, an underwater photographer, on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Turn Back the Clock"). [16] In 1965, Craig appeared in The Big Valley ("The Invaders") and Kentucky Jones ("Kentucky′s Vacation"),
Craig played a Navy nurse with exotic Arabian dance skills in an episode of McHale's Navy ("Pumpkin Takes Over") and in an episode of The Big Valley with Lee Majors and Barbara Stanwyck; both aired in 1965. That same year, she appeared in an episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Brain-Killer Affair"), where she helps solve the mystery of a brain-endangering poison. The following year, she came back as an U.N.C.L.E. employee in a theatrical film, One Spy Too Many , expanded from the episode "The Alexander the Greater Affair". In an episode of The Wild Wild West ("The Night of the Grand Emir") in 1966, she played an assassin who performs an exotic Arabian dance. In a 1968 episode of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir ("Haunted Honeymoon"), she played Gladys Zimmerman, a bride-to-be who was stranded overnight at Gull Cottage.
Craig played a main character as well did the vocals for part of the soundtrack for Ski Party (1965) with Frankie Avalon. She was also Natasha, the Russian ballerina, in the spy film parody In Like Flint (1967) starring James Coburn.
From September 1967 until March 1968, Craig appeared in her highest-profile role as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon for the third and final season of the 1960s ABC TV series Batman . As Batgirl, she wore a purple and yellow outfit and rode a "purple motorcycle with white lace trim", [4] whereas her alter ego Barbara Gordon was the librarian daughter of Commissioner Gordon. [17] The New York Times praised her for "add[ing] a scrappy girl-power element" to a TV series it described as "campy". [11]
Craig did her own stunts on the show. "Although they didn't want me to do my stunts (and I ultimately did my own stunts), I mean, I kind of talked them into it. They knew that I danced and what they didn't know was that I rode a motorcycle so I could do the stuff on the bikes." [18] She did complain about riding the Batgirl Cycle. "They had taken off the shock absorbers to put on the bat wings, so, whenever I went over a bump, it was like jumping off a table stiff-legged." [10] The Batgirl Cycle was a customized 1967 Yamaha YCS1 Bonanza 180. [19]
Co-star Burt Ward described working with Craig, saying "Yvonne was a dear friend and a wonderful actress to work with. We had a great time on Batman. We were friends. She got along great with Adam and myself and everybody else. She was just a delightful person with a sparkling personality. She had an energy and brightness to her that was just uplifting". [20]
While acting on Batman, Craig appeared as a contestant on the game show The Dating Game in 1967. [21]
After Batman ended, Craig continued to act in television. She appeared in guest roles in It Takes a Thief , The Mod Squad , Mannix , and Emergency!
In 1969 Craig appeared on Star Trek as Marta, a green-skinned Orion woman in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy". [15] In the episode, former Starfleet Captain Garth (Steve Ihnat), is incarcerated in a mental asylum on a distant planet. Garth lures Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to visit him in order to escape by hijacking the Enterprise. In the Star Trek canon, Orion women are described as "...like animals. Vicious. Seductive. They say no human male can resist them". [22] Garth uses Marta, also an escaped inmate, in an attempt to have her seduce Kirk through dance and then murder him.
Craig related the problems in having to wear green body makeup from head to toe in the episode. "Susan [Oliver, who portrayed the Orion "Vina" in the show's pilot episode "The Cage"] and I were supposed to be from the same planet. Only they couldn’t remember how they got Susan green in the first season episode – they somehow had lost the makeup. So, they had to devise a substitute formula. I had skid marks because the makeup wouldn’t stay on. Then, they sprayed me with Liquid Bandage, which has to be removed with acetone, so my skin was all burned – I was a walking disaster. When you perspire, Liquid Bandage won’t stick, so here I was, walking around with moss hanging from my armpits. It was just hideous. I would take two showers at the studio, then go home and take an oil bath, and then take another shower to get the remainder of it off. Then, I would start all over again the next day". [23]
Craig discussed having to provide her own choreography, saying "When they had to audition me they said, 'Can you do a three-minute dance?' and I said, 'Unless you're doing The Red Shoes, three minutes is a long time,' but I said, 'Yes, I can do a three-minute dance if you want it, but you'll probably just have to cut it to pieces, because that's crazy'. It's nuts, but it was fun to do". [24]
From 1969 to 1972, she appeared in four episodes of the comedy series Love, American Style . In a 1970 episode of Land of the Giants ("Wild Journey"), she played one-half of a humanoid, time-observing duo (with Bruce Dern), who chase two of the Earth castaways (series stars Gary Conway and Don Marshall) into the past, ultimately forcing them to relive the flight that sent them to the giants' planet. [25]
In 1973 Craig reprised her Batgirl role in a public service announcement (PSA) promoting equal pay for women sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.
In the PSA, Batman and Robin were tied to a post threatened by a ticking time bomb. Batgirl arrives but refuses to release them because she is paid less than Robin, in violation of the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The PSA was written and directed by Sidney Galanty, and narrated by the Batman TV series creator and producer William Dozier. Dick Gautier played Batman, due to Adam West distancing himself from the character. [26]
In 1973, Craig appeared in a first-season episode of Kojak ("Dark Sunday"), and in 1977, she made a guest appearance in The Six Million Dollar Man ("The Infiltrators"). [27]
When her Hollywood career slowed in the 1980s, Craig ventured into private business after tiring of the roles she was offered. She said "I was being offered the same kinds of roles all the time and just thought, 'Why would you bother repeating yourself?'" [13]
Briefly a co-producer of industrial shows, Craig began a new career as a real estate broker. [28]
Craig was the producer for Comic Book Kid (1993). [29]
From 2009 to 2011, she voiced Grandma on the animated children's series Olivia . [30]
In the 1980s Craig attended many comic and fan conventions, signing photos and talking with fans.
Marvel and DC comic book letterer Steve Haynie remembered Craig's interaction with convention goers, saying "Yvonne Craig's first convention appearance was at the 1988 Magnum Opus Con in Columbus, Georgia. She was going to give away autographed photos, but a few of us talked her out of that by pointing out that other guests supported themselves by selling photos. We warned her about the autograph dealers that would swoop in to take advantage of her generosity. She gave in with, 'OK, then. How about fifty cents?' We told her no again. I took off for a few minutes, and when I came back she agreed to go as high as two dollars apiece. All the money was donated to a charity the local Star Fleet chapter worked with... Yvonne Craig enjoyed meeting fans".
Fellow actor Julie Newmar said of Craig when she attended conventions, "My memory of her, especially, was her ebullience... that’s the kind of person she was... A smile, always a smile. And she would always show up in these marvelous clothes. They were all made of this silky kind of material. It’s body-hugging. It’s what our Catwoman and Batgirl costumes should have been made out of. Kind of similar but very clinging and comfortable. She was buxom and adorable... Everyone liked her". [20]
Craig published an autobiography called From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond (2000). [11]
Craig died at age 78 at her home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, on August 17, 2015, from breast cancer that had spread to her liver. [11] [4] [31]
Craig appeared in the documentary film Ballets Russes (2005). [32]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1957 | Eighteen and Anxious | Gloria Dorothy McCormick | |
1959 | Gidget | Nan | |
1959 | The Young Land | Elena de la Madrid | |
1959 | The Gene Krupa Story | Gloria Corregio | |
1960 | High Time | Randy 'Scoop' Pruitt | |
1961 | By Love Possessed | Veronica Kovacs | |
1961 | Seven Women from Hell | Janet Cook | |
1963 | It Happened at the World's Fair | Dorothy Johnson | |
1964 | Kissin' Cousins | Azalea Tatum | |
1964 | Advance to the Rear | Ora | Uncredited |
1964 | Quick, Before It Melts | Sharon Sweigert | |
1965 | Ski Party | Barbara Norris | |
1966 | One Spy Too Many | Maude Waverly | |
1966 | One of Our Spies Is Missing | Wanda | |
1967 | In Like Flint | Natasha, the Ballerina | |
1968 | Mars Needs Women | Dr. Marjorie Bolen | |
1971 | How to Frame a Figg | Glorianna Hastings | |
1990 | Diggin' Up Business | Lucille | |
2005 | Ballets Russes | Herself | Documentary |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Schlitz Playhouse | Suzanne Stacey / Helen Meade | 2 episodes |
1958 | Perry Mason | Patricia Faxon | Episode: "The Case of the Lazy Lover" |
1959 | Bronco | Stephanie Kelton | Episode: "Bodyguard" |
1959 | Philip Marlowe | Connie | Episode: "Child of Virtue" |
1959 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Annie | Episode: "The Girl" |
1959 | Mr. Lucky | Beverly Mills | Episode: "Little Miss Wow" |
1959–1962 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Linda Sue Faversham / Elspeth Hummaker / Hazel Grimes / Myrna Lomax / Aphrodite Millican / Girl #1 | 6 episodes |
1960 | Man with a Camera | Jo Stokes | Episode: "Hot Ice Cream" |
1960 | Hennesey | Nurse Harriet Burns | Episode: "Scarlet Woman in White" |
1960 | The Chevy Mystery Show | Carolyn | Episode: "Murder Me Nicely" |
1960 | Checkmate | Judy | Episode: "The Cyanide Touch" |
1960 | The Barbara Stanwyck Show | Susan Mowry | Episode: "House in Order" |
1960–1964 | 77 Sunset Strip | Tina Nichols / Willie Miller / Kristan Royal / Luanna Staunton | 4 episodes |
1961 | The Detectives | Ivy | Episode: "Quiet Night" |
1961 | Peter Loves Mary | Darcy Robinson | Episode: "That Certain Age" |
1961 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Libby Gillette | Episode: "The Remittance Man" |
1961 | The Aquanauts | Kathy | Episode: "The Rainbow Adventure" |
1961 | Michael Shayne | Nan Palmer | Episode: "It Takes a Heap o' Dyin'" |
1961 | The Jim Backus Show | Debbie | Episode: "Dora's Vacation" |
1961 | Margie | Cynthia | Episode: "The Initiation" |
1961 | Ichabod and Me | Liza Halliday | Episode: "Teenage Journalist" |
1961 | Mrs. G. Goes to College | Sally | Episode: "Mrs. G.'s Private Telephone" |
1962 | Follow the Sun | Veronica St John | Episode: "A Ghost in Her Gazebo" |
1962 | The New Breed | Louise Pittman / Edna Pittman | Episode: "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" |
1962 | I'm Dickens, He's Fenster | Hillary | Episode: "A Small Matter of Being Fired" |
1962 | Laramie | Ginny Malone | Episode: "The Long Road Back" |
1962 | Death Valley Days | Emma | Episode: "To Walk with Greatness" |
1962 | The Dick Powell Show | 'Mary' | Episode: "In Search of a Son" |
1962 | Wide Country | Anita Callahan | Episode: "The Bravest Man in the World" |
1962–1963 | Sam Benedict | Amy Vickers / Angela Larkin | 2 episodes |
1963 | Vacation Playhouse | Abby Young | Episode: "Hooray for Love" |
1964 | Dr. Kildare | Carol Devon | Episode: "A Day to Remember" |
1964 | Channing | Kathy O'Reardon | Episode: "My Son, the All-American" |
1964 | Wagon Train | Ellie Riggs | Episode: "The Link Cheney Story" |
1964 | Tom, Dick, and Mary | Louise Meeker | Episode: "Bad Day at Bristol Court" |
1964 | Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea | Carol | Episode: "Turn Back the Clock" |
1965 | Valentine's Day | Sally Whitfield | Episode: "For Me and My Sal" |
1965 | McHale's Navy | Nurse Suzie Clayton | Episode: "Pumpkin Takes Over" |
1965 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Cecille Bergstrom | Episode: "The Brain-Killer Affair" |
1965 | Kentucky Jones | Shirley | Episode: "Kentucky's Vacation" |
1965 | My Favorite Martian | Louise | Episode: "Keep Me from the Church on Time" |
1965 | Ben Casey | Mary Dyboski Carter | Episode: "If You Play Your Cards Right, You Too Can Be a Loser" |
1965 | The Big Valley | Allie Kay | Episode: "The Invaders" |
1966 | The Wild Wild West | Ecstasy La Joie | Episode: "The Night of the Grand Emir" |
1966 | Mister Roberts | Carol Jennings | Episode: "Damn the Torpedoes" |
1966 | My Three Sons | Vickie Malone | Episode: "If at First" |
1967 | Mars Needs Women | Dr. Marjorie Bolen | Television film |
1967 | Batgirl | Barbara Gordon / Batgirl | Television short |
1967–1968 | Batman | Barbara Gordon / Batgirl | 26 episodes |
1968 | The Ghost & Mrs. Muir | Gladys Zimmerman | Episode: "Haunted Honeymoon" |
1968 | It Takes a Thief | Roxanne | Episode: "The Bill Is in Committee" |
1968 | The Mod Squad | Tara Chapman / Lila Mason | Episode: "Find Tara Chapman!" |
1969 | Star Trek | Marta | Episode: "Whom Gods Destroy" |
1969 | The Good Guys | Dr. Cummings | Episode: "Communications Gap" |
1969–1972 | Love, American Style | Kathy / Helen / Janet / June | 4 episodes |
1969–1973 | Mannix | Ada Lee Hayes / Mrs. Diana Everett | 2 episodes |
1970 | The Courtship of Eddie's Father | Maryanne Atwater | Episode: "Don't Look Now, But Your Scorpio's Rising" |
1970 | Land of the Giants | Berna | Episode: "Wild Journey" |
1970 | Three Coins in the Fountain | Dorothy | Television film |
1971–1972 | The Partners | Michelle / Denise / Jessica | 2 episodes |
1972 | O'Hara, U.S. Treasury | Inez Malcolm | Episode: "Operation: Rake-Off" |
1973 | Jarrett | Luluwa | Television film |
1973 | The Magician | Dr. Nora Zabriskie | Episode: "The Man Who Lost Himself" |
1973 | Kojak | Liz | Episode: "Dark Sunday" |
1974 | Emergency! | Edna Johnson | Episode: "Gossip" |
1976 | Holmes & Yoyo | Sherri | Episode: "Key Witness" |
1977 | The Six Million Dollar Man | Lena Bannister | Episode: "The Infiltrators" |
1979 | Starsky & Hutch | Carol | Episode: "Starsky vs. Hutch" |
1983 | Fantasy Island | Cindy | Episode: "Remember... When?" |
2009–2011 | Olivia | Grandma (voice) | 29 episodes |
Nichelle Nichols was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in Star Trek and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on American television. From 1977 to 2015, she volunteered her time to promote NASA's programs and recruit diverse astronauts, including some of the first female and ethnic minority astronauts.
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer, and singer known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real estate mogul. She won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Katrin Sveg in the 1958 Broadway production of The Marriage-Go-Round, and reprised the role in the 1961 film version. In the 1960s she starred for two seasons as Catwoman in the television series Batman (1966–1967). Her other stage credits include Ziegfeld Follies in 1956, Lola in Damn Yankees! in 1961 and, in 1965, as Irma in regional productions of Irma la Douce.
Batman is an American live-action television series based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Burt Ward as Dick Grayson/Robin—two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City from a variety of archvillains. It is known for its camp style and upbeat theme music, as well as its intentionally humorous, simplistic morality aimed at its preteen audience. The 120 episodes aired on the ABC network for three seasons from January 12, 1966, to March 14, 1968, twice weekly during the first two seasons, and weekly for the third. In 2016, television critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz ranked Batman as the 82nd greatest American television series of all time. A companion feature film was released in 1966 between the first and second seasons of the TV show.
Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and two Drama Desk Awards.
Kirstie Louise Alley was an American actress. Her breakthrough role was as Rebecca Howe in the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987–1993), for which she received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe in 1991. From 1997 to 2000, Alley starred as the lead in the sitcom Veronica's Closet, earning additional Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. On film, she played Mollie Jensen in Look Who's Talking (1989) and its two sequels, Look Who's Talking Too (1990) and Look Who's Talking Now (1993).
Linda Park is a South Korean-born American actress, best known for her portrayal of communications officer Hoshi Sato in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.
Lea Katherine Thompson is an American actress, singer, dancer, and director.
Nana Visitor, is an American actress, best known for playing Kira Nerys in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jean Ritter in the television series Wildfire.
Mary Sean Young is an American actress. She is particularly known for working in science fiction films, although she has performed roles in a variety of genres.
Summer Glau is an American actress best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy television series: as River Tam in Firefly (2002) and its continuation film Serenity (2005), as Tess Doerner in The 4400 (2005–2007), as Cameron in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009), and as Isabel Rochev / Ravager in Arrow (2013–2014).
Batgirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, depicted as female counterparts and allies to the superhero Batman. The character Betty Kane was introduced into publication in 1961 by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff as Bat-Girl, and was replaced in 1967 by Barbara Gordon, who became the most iconic Batgirl. The character debuted in Detective Comics #359 by writer Gardner Fox and artist Carmine Infantino, introduced as the niece/adoptive daughter of police commissioner James Gordon.
Barbara Gordon is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. The character was created by television producer William Dozier, editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox, and artist Carmine Infantino. Dozier, the producer of the 1960s Batman television series, requested Schwartz to call for a new female counterpart to the superhero Batman that could be introduced into publication and the third season of the show simultaneously. The character subsequently made her first comic-book appearance as Batgirl in Detective Comics #359, titled "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!" in January 1967, by Fox and Infantino, allowing her to be introduced into the television series, portrayed by actress Yvonne Craig, in the season 3 premiere "Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", in September that same year.
Lee Ann Meriwether is an American actress, former model, and the winner of the 1955 Miss America pageant. She has appeared in many films and television shows, notably as Betty Jones, the title character's secretary and daughter-in-law in the 1970s crime drama Barnaby Jones starring Buddy Ebsen. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations in 1975 and 1976, and an Emmy Award nomination in 1977. She is also known for her portrayal of Catwoman, replacing Julie Newmar in the theatrical film Batman (1966), and for a co-starring role on the science fiction series The Time Tunnel. Meriwether had a recurring role as Ruth Martin on the daytime soap opera All My Children until the end of the series in September 2011.
The Orions are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek, making their first appearance in the initial pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series, "The Cage". Susan Oliver portrayed the first Orion seen on screen, when her human character Vina was transformed into one, although it was Majel Barrett who underwent the original makeup test. The footage was subsequently used in the two-part episode "The Menagerie". Yvonne Craig, who was considered for the role of Vina, later played an Orion in "Whom Gods Destroy".
Zoë Yadira Saldaña-Perego is an American actress. Known primarily for her work in science fiction film franchises, she has starred in four of the six highest-grossing films of all time, including the top three. Films she has appeared in have grossed more than $15 billion worldwide and, as of 2024, she is the second highest-grossing lead actress and the highest-grossing actress overall. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
Charles George Cyphers was an American actor who is known in the horror movie community for his work in the films of John Carpenter, especially his role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Carpenter's 1978 movie Halloween. He reprised this role in the 1981 sequel Halloween II and the 2021 sequel Halloween Kills.
The Batcycle, Batblade, or Batpod is the fictional personal motorcycle of the DC Comics superhero Batman. In the comic book universe, Batman's personal Batcycle is a modified street-bike with a 786 cc liquid-cooled V-4 engine. It contains a computer-controlled carburetor and bulletproof wind-guard.
Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski, known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski, is an Australian actress. She is known for roles as Sarah Walker in the spy comedy drama series Chuck (2007–2012), Hannah McKay in the drama series Dexter (2012–2013) and Kate Morgan in the event series 24: Live Another Day (2014). Strahovski stars as Serena Joy Waterford in the drama series The Handmaid's Tale (2017–present), for which she has received nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Golden Globe Award.
Originally created in 1967, the fictional comic book character Barbara Gordon has been adapted into various other forms of media. The character has appeared in both live action and animated television series and films, as well as in video games in her alter-egos as both Batgirl and Oracle.
"Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin" is the first episode of Season 3 of the Batman television series, first aired on ABC September 14, 1967 as its ninety-fifth episode. It guest starred Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, and also was the first appearance of Yvonne Craig as Police Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl.
More recently, Craig voiced Grandma in Nickelodeon's 2009 cartoon series Olivia.