Yvonne Craig
 Batman, the campy comic book come to life, was an instant smash when it debuted on television in 1966. Twice a week, the Dynamic Duo - Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) - delivered animated pows, bangs and thuds to such evil villains as the Penguin, the Joker, the Riddler and Chandell (played by Liberace). But, in 1967, the show's ratings had begun to wane. To liven things up, a new character was added - Batgirl, played by Yvonne Craig.
After a stint as a member of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Yvonne went to Hollywood, where she starred in The Young Land, opposite Patrick Wayne (John Waynes son). Several films later, she danced with Bing Crosby in High Time.
 Yvonne appeared with Elvis Presley in It Happened at the Worlds Fair and Kissing Cousins. Craig made numerous guest appearances in TV series until her acting career slowed down in the 70s when she began refusing bikini shot roles. She did some independent casting, coaching of actors, and co-produced some industrial shows and an independent feature. Then she entered the real estate business.
 Q. Did you know what you were getting into when you were offered the Batgirl role?
A. I hadn't seen the show prior to doing it. I never read comics as a kid, so why would I watch them on TV?
 Q. Besides the fact that you are attractive and a fine actress, what else helped you get the Batgirl part when you auditioned?
A. One of the reasons I think they hired me was because I had been a dancer. Howie Horwitz and producer Bill Dozier both knew that. When I went into the office to talk to them, they also asked me if I had ever ridden a motorcycle, which indeed I had and owned one at the time.
 Q. I remember all those wild motorcycle scenes. It looked like fun, but maybe a liittle dangerous, too. Was it?
A. They took the shocks off so they could put these lovely bat wings on it. And any time it would go over a pebble, it was like jumping off a table.
Q. Did you do have a stunt double?
A. I did all of my stunts, and I also did all of the motorcycle riding. However, we never did any film mixing with rear screen projections. You never really saw me going fast down the street on that thing, as I recall, from a head-on point of view. I always was going somewhere, and they just filmed wherever it was I was going.
 Q. I remember you as a dainty ballerina dancer, earl y in your career. Somehow, you dont strike me as the kind of person who would get off doing crazy stunts on a fast moving vehicle. Did you get a buzz out of that?
A. I enjoyed doing my own stunts on the show. We would choreograph the stunt on a lunch break or something. When you are doing a show, it can get really dull. You are sitting so long while they set up the lights, then you say a couple of lines, then they tear down the lights again. At least stunts are something that uses your physical energy a great deal.
Q. Which scenes were the most memorable for you?
A. The motorcycle ride out of the secret exit was an interesting episode. It was the first day of shooting, and I knew the special effects man from somewhere else at Warner Brothers. We had worked together a long time. I had been practicing riding out because I was supposed to ride through a brick wall. It was set up like a long tunnel, and he said, Look, if you hit this mark and you at that point absolutely stand on it and give it all you got, it will look like you are riding the wall down. It will be real exciting.
I said, Terrific! So, I did exactly as he said, but a little voice in my head said, keep your hand close to the brakes because, if something goes wrong, you would like to be able to hit the brakes.
Q. So what happened?
 A. Sure enough, the first shot of the day, I went tearing out, and the wall didn't come down. It was made of plywood and I wouldn't have liked to have gone through it. I hit the brakes, and I went skidding sideways, missing the wall by about an inch. Nobody on the other side knew what was going on. They figured somewhere along the line I had chickened out and decided not to do it at all. Anyway, it worked the second time around.
 Q. How did you get along with the other members in the cast? Any ego problems?
A. Burt (Ward) and Adam (West) and I got along very well, although I understand they had had trouble with both of them before I joined the show. I didn't join the show until the third season. By that time whatever trouble they had had with them about being prima donnas, as far as I could tell, certainly with Burt in particular, had vanished. He knew his lines always, he came prepared, and when he finished shooting he went to his dressing room and played chess with somebody. Other than that, he was delightful. All of them were.
Q. So, what ever happened to your Batgirl costume?
A. Burt Ward stole it. When we finished shooting the Batman show, we all said goodbye and went away, and apparently Burt took my costume and my wig. He would dress up his girlfriend and tie her to a pole or something at shopping malls. It was like a whole act that they did.
 Q. Prior to starring as Batgirl in the Batman TV series, you did a coupla movies with Elvis. What was it like to work with him?
A. Elvis had a droll, dry sense of humor. He was very much aware of his effect on women, but very much a Southern gentleman. The only other person I've seen have that awareness of his own persona is Mick Jagger. He knows down to the flick of an eyelash what his audience expects of him. Elvis had that same sense of what his audience wanted from him, and what he was to women. We had a love scene by a tree. And he said, You need to stand closer to me, because my fans expect that. I thought, Okay!
 Q. You decided to retire from show business and work in the real estate business in California. Was that a difficult transition for you, or was it a challenge?
A. It's fun to make deals. You get into a whole other part of your brain that you don't use as an actress. Now I understand why people become managers and agents.
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