Yvonne Joyce Craig was born on the 16th of May 1937. Daughter to Maurice and Pauline Craig, Yvonne's initial ambition was to be a ballet dancer. She began her ballet training at the age of ten, and a few years later, after moving from Columbus, Ohio to Dallas, Texas, she continued her studies at the prestigious Edith James School. It was during a performance here that Yvonne attracted the attention of visiting prima ballerina absoluta Alexandra Danilova, who hastily arranged for Yvonne to audition for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The audition was successful and Yvonne continued her training there commencing in 1954. After a disagreement with Danilova, Yvonne broke her contract with the Ballet Russe in 1957.

Although it wasn't her desire at this stage of her career to take up acting as a full time career, Yvonne accepted an offer from a Hollywood producer to appear in the film "The Young Land", considering it to be a temporary opportunity to earn some money before joining another ballet school (which alas, was never to happen). Shot in 1957, but not released until 1959, this western featured Yvonne playing a young and attractive Mexican girl who develops a crush for the leading man, Patrick Wayne (Yup! Son of The Duke). Despite it being her first acting role, because of the delays in its release, the public's actual first glimpse of Yvonne as an actress was by means of the 1957 teen exploitation movie produced by Edmond Chevie, "Eighteen and Anxious".