ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110011
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
There was an important choice to be made about the batmotorcycle, a choice that unfortunately had nothing whatsoever to do with the desires of Yvonne Craig, the young woman who would be riding it.
"You could have either batwings or shocks," said Craig, who did all her own stunts as Batgirl for the 1960s "Batman" television series. "I got batwings. No shocks."
But if that made her trek through Gotham City a little bumpier, you probably wouldn't find her fans - which in large part consisted of teen-age boys with raging hormones - complaining.
It was 1967 when Craig joined the series full time. The show, which once aired twice a week, was losing popularity by that point, and the producers expected Craig to attract two audiences. "They hired me because they wanted to appeal to 40-year-old males and prepubescent females," Craig said from her home in Southern California. "I understood the appeal for over-40 males; I was in a spray-on costume. But with the girls, I thought, if they were old enough for their hormones to have shot up, they'd be interested in Adam [West] and they'd see me as competition, I'm sure."
So she was surprised when she hit the convention circuit 10 years ago and found women who would say things like this: "I was 8 years old and saw you and thought 'Wow, Batgirl can do everything the guys do.'"
"So I guess we got our audience," Craig said.
All of this did not escape the notice of the U.S. Department of Labor and in the 1970s, Batgirl became an advocate for equal pay for equal work, lending her visage for a department public service announcement. In the short video spot, Batgirl swings through a window to find Batman and Robin tied to a chair.
"Quick, Batgirl," commands the caped crusader. "Untie us before it's too late."
"It's already too late," Batgirl replies. "I've worked for you for a long time and I'm paid less than Robin ...''
Craig first began attending conventions as a way to raise money for Santa Barbara's Breast Cancer Institute. These days, her charity of choice is a food bank for HIV-positive men and women in the Diablo Valley. The memorabilia she will be selling at Salem's Rising Star, a media event that has its roots in sci-fi, will go toward that end.
The Salem convention, to be held all weekend at Glenvar High School, also features visits from Don Marshall (a regular on "Land of the Giants,") and Richard Biggs ("Babylon 5"). Workshops have titles ranging from "Model Building" to "Refuse to be a Victim."
Some of the money raised from the event will be used for scholarships for Glenvar High School students; some will go to a national group called "Victims of Violence No More."
So you could say that even after all these years, Yvonne Craig is still fighting bad guys.
In the '60s, she did it as Commissioner Gordon's librarian niece, who turned into Batgirl when the world needed her.
In the '90s, she's doing it through fund raising.
Craig's adventures have continued, too. She and her husband, Ken Aldrich, recently traveled to Europe and found themselves (particularly in Switzerland) bored. They missed the animals they were used to seeing on trips to Africa, the white-water rafting they'd done in Ecuador.
Such trips have caused Craig to lag behind a little on her upcoming book, "Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond." The book tells the stories that Craig will repeat verbally when she has the inclination: about her years in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, her films and dates with Elvis Presley ("he was a dear, sweet man"), her multiple television appearances, which included an episode of "Star Trek."
"I always said I would not write a book," she said, though her batpals had certainly done it - most recently Burt Ward, aka Robin, with his: "Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights."
Craig said she likes to look forward, not back. But people kept asking her to talk about her acting days, and there was this undeniable fact: Somehow, all of her main projects became cultish.
"It's absolutely by happenstance," Craig insisted. "It has nothing to do with me. But everything I've done has been successful on some level. "There's a following for her 1966 sci-fi flick "Mars Needs Women," for example.
Another case in point: "Whom Gods Destroy," a Star Trek episode that features Craig as a green woman, is a favorite among Trekkies, falling slightly behind "The Trouble with Tribbles."
Craig also appeared in two Elvis movies ("It Happened at the World's Fair" and "Kissin' Cousins") and there's no disputing the King's status with fans.
"When I get back from Roanoke I'll have to write every single day in order to get this book done," she said.
She wants to release the book when the next Batman movie comes out - a movie that will introduce a new Batgirl.
A short aside here: Craig, who's been working mostly in real estate for the past 15 years, is now in the phone card business with her sister, Meridel Carson. They recently put out a phone card for the movie "Clueless," which featured Alica Silverstone. And Silverstone, of course, will be playing Batgirl in the new movie.
"I just thought that was so neat!" Craig said.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Yvonne Craig as Batgirl. color.by CNB