Batgirl Yvonne Craig Reveals the ‘Batman’ Co-Star She Absolutely Hated
What To Know
- Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl on the 1960s Batman TV series, generally enjoyed her time on set and had positive relationships with most of the cast.
- Craig revealed in her autobiography that her least favorite “co-star” was actually her character’s pet parrot, Charlie, due to the bird’s disruptive behavior and frequent escapes during filming.
- She also expressed disappointment with guest star Rudy Vallée, describing him as unfriendly and difficult to work with compared to other guest actors.
When she joined Batman for its final season in 1967, Yvonne Craig did a fantastic job of bringing Batgirl to life. By all accounts, her time on the show was a good one; she loved the cast, and they loved her back, making her feel absolutely welcome.
When Craig passed away in 2015, Digital Spy shared this quote from Batman himself, actor Adam West, about her: “She always brought humor and a fine attitude to our stage. She was a joy to work with.”
Now, with all that said, there was one co-star that Craig absolutely could not stand, and it’s not the co-star that fans would expect. Using Craig’s own words from her autobiography, From Ballet to the Batcave and Beyond, the character she truly loathed working with can finally be revealed.
In her book, Craig wrote, “The one character, and he was that, that I absolutely loathed was Charlie, my pet parrot.”
According to Craig, the writers needed a way for Barbara Gordon to discuss the plot and move the story forward without looking like she was merely muttering to herself. They figured a pet bird would be an effective way for her to vocalize her thoughts out loud. The production team reasoned that, unlike a cat or a dog requiring a trainer, a bird would be relatively low maintenance.
However, trouble started almost immediately. The original Charlie, Craig said in her book, was a Mexican green parrot. However, his time on the set was incredibly short because someone got a bit overzealous spraying him for mites; and sadly, that was the end of Charlie.
Everett Collection; Screengrab
Unfazed by the bird’s untimely demise, the producers of the show brought in a second Charlie, and this is where Craig’s real frustration began. She described this new Charlie as a constant source of frustration. Craig explained that whenever the bird was on set but not visible on camera, he would squawk relentlessly. Yet, the second the cameras were rolling and Craig approached his cage for a scene where she needed to talk to him, he would immediately hunker down on the floor of the cage, as if he was trying to hide from the camera lens, which left the actress chatting away to an empty perch.
And this new Charlie’s antics didn’t stop there; he was also a talented escape artist. Craig wrote that he had a penchant for bursting out of his cage whenever someone opened the door to replenish his food or water. More than once, filming had to be completely shut down while the crew tried to recapture the parrot and get him back on his perch.
Despite the chaos, the production persevered and, when the season finally ended, Craig’s stand-in mercifully took Charlie home. When the show was not renewed for another season, Craig did her very best to never give the bird another thought.
It is worth noting that, over the years, Craig did mention one other unpleasant personality she dealt with while working on Batman. That honor goes to actor Rudy Vallée, who played the villainous Lord Ffogg.
In an interview that can be found on her official website, Craig said that Vallée “was an absolute curmudgeon! What made it worse was that it was a three-episode shoot, so we had him around for a long time. He was so cranky, especially when you compare him to a wonderful guest like Vincent Price.”
In her book, Craig went on to say that Vallée was “unfriendly, and generally an all-around pain in the butt” which was quite a disappointment for her, as she had been a fan of his work and was really looking forward to working with him.
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