Yvonne Craig, original Batgirl, remembered as 'role model'
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Actress Yvonne Craig, who is often remembered for portraying Batgirl in the 1960s 鈥淏atman鈥� TV series, has died.
Craig starred with Adam West and Burt Ward in the TV show, which aired from 1966 to 1968 and also starred Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Julie Newmar, and Eartha Kitt.聽
The actress also appeared on the 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� TV series with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as well as 鈥淔antasy Island,鈥� 鈥淪tarsky and Hutch,鈥� and 鈥淭he Man from U.N.C.L.E.鈥澛�
She also starred in the Elvis Presley films 鈥淜issin鈥� Cousins鈥� and 鈥淚t Happened at the World鈥檚 Fair鈥� and provided voice work for the Nick Jr. animated series 鈥淥livia,鈥� which debuted in 2009.聽
Craig first appeared in the third (and final) season of 鈥淏atman,鈥� which ran on ABC. Batgirl鈥檚 alter ego was Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Police Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton). Craig also reportedly did her own on the show.
鈥淚 hear from women that I was their role model,鈥� Craig 聽in an interview. "[They would say,] 鈥榃hen I was a little girl, I realized that girls could kick butt just like guys.鈥� 鈥�
Despite the current superhero movie and TV show boom, few projects center on female superheroes, though there are some planned for the future. CBS鈥檚 adaptation of the 鈥淪upergirl鈥� story is set to debut this fall with Melissa Benoist as the title character. Wonder Woman, played by actress Gal Gadot,聽will appear in the March 2016 鈥淏atman v Superman鈥� and is slated to get her own 2017 movie from the Warner Bros. studio. In addition, a movie starring the female version of superhero Captain Marvel is set to be released in 2018, according to Marvel Studios.
