TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

General goings on in the 1966 Batman World

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bat-rss
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TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by bat-rss »

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Yvonne Craig’s memoir, From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond, poses quite a contrast to those by Adam West and Burt Ward. "Batman" takes up much less space in it, and recountings of sexual adventures take up no space at all. What emerges is a very practical woman who sees herself as a geek, is surprised to find herself typecast as “sexy” as she approaches 40, has plenty of amusing anecdotes (Hollywood-related and otherwise), and would be a joy to sit down to coffee with. We’ve read the book and we review it in this episode, and present rare audio of Yvonne’s 1967 appearance on The Joey Bishop Show!

https://tothebatpoles.libsyn.com/137-yv ... his-memoir
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Scott Sebring
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Scott Sebring »

Cool show. Wish you guys got to meet her.
I shared your podcast over on her site:
https://www.yvonnecraig.com/2020/07/09/ttbp-podcast/
Btw, the book is readily available on her site as well.
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Jimmy L. 66
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Jimmy L. 66 »

I'm sure i will be corrected if wrong- but-
at the time of his book Adam was mostly only known for his time on Batman,
and those stories sold books.
at the time of this writing Burt is mostly only known for his time on Batman.
and his stories sold a few books.
Yvonne always seemed to have more going on than just Batman. IMHO
I am looking forward to this episode.
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Kamdan »

Great episode!
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Dr. Shimel »

Yvonne's ballerina days from 1953-54:
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Dr. Shimel »

Yvonne's contract litigation and her fight to simply keep her name:
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by rsaffle »

I never knew she was from Dallas. Very cool.
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Mr. Glee »

From December 1966, just a few weeks before she landed the Batgirl gig:

"RUDE WELCOME for Yvonne Craig in her home town, Dallas, Tex. She went back to film scenes for a science fiction movie, "Mars Needs Women." Getting out of a car on her way to dinner, she was attacked by a purse snatcher. He jerked the purse off her arm so roughly that the arm was bruised and cut."
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Keith Mayo »

"It's the very essence of our democracy". - Batman, S1 Ep 11
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

Interesting episode, guys.

Some fans have complained about the nature of some of the stories in Ward's book, but Craig's book was in extended orbit of that "world" by claiming that she dated Elvis while he was married. Some might say "well, she's just telling the truth", but the nature of what she did was not character-building kind of behavior, and one might argue that it should not have been shared. To me, it comes off as seeking a "credit" by association with one of the biggest stars in history. Did she ever have second thoughts about what that meant or how it could have affected Priscilla? Some might be compelled to jump in to say how adultery was common in the entertainment business, but of course the "everybody's doing it" idea is never an excuse for that kind of behavior.

Then, she talks about how awful Shatner and Majors were--that seems to be the bulk of her observations about the two, which reminds me of her Starlog interview where she was trying to cut down Shatner (again), and talked about how bad Bruce Dern's odor was while shooting an episode of Land of the Giants. Her "takeaways" are largely negative, and again, its as if she's dragging others through the mud not only for a "credit" but due to the idea that without stories like that (especially about Shatner & Majors who transcended their profession to become genuine pop-culture icons) her bio would lack a certain kind of draw.

Even if the bulk of the book did not contain similarly themed stories, the fact that level of dirt about others just had to be included does not paint a great picture of Craig.

Adam's "reaching back and touching her breast" recollection...yeah, as you guys point out, there's no scene in the surf episode where West, Craig and Ward were positioned in a way for West's claim to be true. I'm chalking this up as yet another of West's blue post-series tales about the show.

From The Joey Bishop Show: she said the Batgirl cycle looked like a cross between a vanity table and a bat! Wow. Isn't that the final seal on how goofy that cycle looked, especially compared to the two Batman Batcylces?
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High C
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by High C »

Thanks guys for the lively discussion, thanks Scott for the link, thanks Dr. Shimel for all the vintage stories and thanks Mr. Glee for the last one.

I had read before the story of her nixing the proposed 'Pat Craig' moniker. I can picture her putting her hands on her hips when they asked her to change her name. ... On Google Chrome, a search of her name IDs her not as 'American actress,' but as 'American ballet dancer.' I'm pretty sure Yvonne would like that.

Per Imdb, Yvonne appeared in 56 different shows and movies in the nine years prior to Batman. That would suggest she was fairly professional and easy to work with.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by Dr. Shimel »

High C wrote: Sun Jul 19, 2020 5:33 pm Thanks guys for the lively discussion, thanks Scott for the link, thanks Dr. Shimel for all the vintage stories and thanks Mr. Glee for the last one.

I had read before the story of her nixing the proposed 'Pat Craig' moniker. I can picture her putting her hands on her hips when they asked her to change her name. ... On Google Chrome, a search of her name IDs her not as 'American actress,' but as 'American ballet dancer.' I'm pretty sure Yvonne would like that.

Per Imdb, Yvonne appeared in 56 different shows and movies in the nine years prior to Batman. That would suggest she was fairly professional and easy to work with.
One of her pre-Batman episodes was a S1 Wild Wild West episode (B&W) that found a way to use her dancing/ballet skills.
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High C
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by High C »

I recently saw the late Deanna Lund in the John Astin Riddler arc and it made me think how she was the only woman who was both a Batman henchmoll and a Dr. Goldfoot fembot.

What does this have to do with Yvonne? Well, I think she would have been terrific as the lead fembot in Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (with a script tweak). Before you say Dirty Old Man Market, let me explain.

The female lead, Susan Hart, was married to the producer (presented without comment). She was kind of wooden. Yvonne was anything but, and as the lead, only would have had to wear the bikini referred to in the title once. Otherwise, she would've worn more fashionable gowns and dresses, as did Hart.

But most important, Yvonne and star Vincent Price had great chemistry. With those two, it could have been a much better film. As for the tweak in the script, how about if Yvonne turned on her 'creator' Price and rebelled against his plan of bilking wealthy men.

Just speculation 55 years after the fact, but what the heck.
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by dell »

Honestly trying to improve Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine seems like a job for Sissyphus; and I'm guessing he'd rather stick to the boulder.
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Re: TO THE BATPOLES #137: Yvonne Craig: We get a kick out of this memoir

Post by High C »

dell wrote: Fri Aug 07, 2020 9:11 pm Honestly trying to improve Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine seems like a job for Sissyphus; and I'm guessing he'd rather stick to the boulder.
At least I didn't suggest re-titling it Dr. Goldfoot and The Siren Machine
'I thought Siren was perfect for Joan.'--Stanley Ralph Ross, writer of 'The Wail of the Siren'

My hobbies include gazing at the Siren and doing her bidding, evil or otherwise.

'She had a devastating, hypnotic effect on all the men.'--A schoolmate describing Joan Collins at age 17
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