BY LEE PFEIFFER
Actress Yvonne Craig, who specialized in playing perky and sexy characters in TV shows and feature films, has died after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 78 years old. Craig broke into the film and TV industry in the late 1950s, making her big screen debut in the exploitation film "Eighteen and Anxious". Before long, she was not only co-starring with Elvis Presley in "It Happened at the World's Fair" and "Kissin' Cousins", but also dating him as well. There was no shortage of work for the attractive Craig during the 1960s and she appeared on numerous TV series including "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." In fact, Craig filmed extra sequences for extended two-part episodes of the show that were released theatrically under the titles "One Spy Too Many" and "One of Our Spies is Missing". However, it was when producer William Dozier cast Craig as Batgirl in the "Batman" TV series that she became a TV icon. Although the show's popularity was on the decline by that point, Craig did appear in the final 26 episodes of the series and built a loyal following that extends to this day.
Her other feature films include "Quick Before It Melts!", "Advance to the Rear", "Ski Party" and the Don Knotts movie "How to Frame a Figg". She also had a brief but memorable role as a Russian ballerina/spy opposite James Coburn in the 1967 hit "In Like Flint". Craig became an independent businesswoman later in life, producing pre-paid promotional phone cards and working in real estate while also providing voice-over work for the TV series "Olivia". For more click here