Batgirl Star Yvonne Craig Was On Star Trek - But You Likely Didn't Realize It
For all its stylistic kitsch and overt silliness, the 1960s small-screen version of "Batman" remains perhaps the most unabashedly entertaining entry in the vast canon of Dark Knight adaptations. It also served as an introduction to the world of Batman and his various friends and enemies for an entire generation of TV lovers. And among The Caped Crusader's list of allies, Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) is a legit standout, with Yvonne Craig imbuing the hero with no shortage of plucky valor.
Craig's refreshingly earnest turn as Batgirl helped endear her to legions of fans who continue to gush over the role decades after the "Batman" series ended. But even some of Craig's biggest fans likely don't realize she made an equally unforgettable appearance in another late-60s hit, "Star Trek." That's because Craig is all but unrecognizable in the role of Marta, making her lone "Star Trek" appearance with a short-cropped hairstyle and under a thick layer of green full-body makeup.
Marta entered the orbit of the U.S.S. Enterprise during a Season 3 story titled "Whom Gods Destroy," doing so as an Orion woman who helps the episode's villain seize control of an isolated Federation asylum. Marta was also a delusional, Shakespeare-appropriating killer whose proclivity for dispatching her mates indeed earned her inmate status in said asylum. And as "Star Trek" fans recall, Captain James T. Kirk narrowly escaped her erotic wrath. They also know Marta met a most brutal end, ensuring she would not return for a follow-up episode.
Yvonne Craig was not the first Orion woman to tangle with the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise
As far as Marta's "Star Trek" legacy goes, many fans continue to revere her as one of the original series' more unforgettable characters, even if they're not always aware it was Yvonne Craig in the role. It seems Marta was more than a memorable role for the actor too, though she admitted during an interview with The Boomer Tube that wearing the green makeup for the shoot was hardly ideal. "It was madness," she said of the requisite make-up routine, noting the frustration was ultimately worth it because "the character was so much fun to do."
Craig also notes how much effort the makeup crew put into ensuring the green of Marta's skin was right, as she was not the first Orion character in the "Star Trek" realm, and they really wanted the colors to match precisely. As for the O.G. Orion girl, Craig notes, "There were two green ladies. The first one was Susan Oliver ... and she was in the first season [of "Star Trek"]." Oliver indeed donned the green makeup for the series' original Captain Kirk-less pilot episode titled "The Cage."
The broadcast history of said pilot is complicated, to say the least. As it was, Oliver's Vina only appears as a green-skinned Orion girl via an illusory trick used to try and seduce then-Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike. And "Trek" fans wouldn't even see the illusion in action until midway through Season 1, where footage from the rejected pilot was recycled for the two-part episode "The Menagerie." Despite the delay, Vina remains as beloved by fans as Craig's Marta — even if the latter is the only true Orion to appear in the greater "Star Trek" universe.