By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Convicted California serial killer Rodney Alcala was arraigned Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court on charges of murdering two women in the 1970s, the same decade when he appeared on "The Dating Game" television show as a bachelor contestant.

The 68-year-old Alcala, who was extradited from death row in California to New York and arrived Wednesday, entered court in handcuffs and an orange corrections jumpsuit, his graying hair held back in a ponytail. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A professional photographer, Alcala lured his victims by offering to take their pictures, according to prosecutors. He was convicted of killing a 12-year-old girl and four women in California, where he has been imprisoned for more than 30 years.

The cold case unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office indicted Alcala on the two murders last year, after conducting more than 100 new interviews with witnesses.

Airline flight attendant Cornelia Crilley, 23, was found murdered in her Manhattan apartment in 1971. Ellen Hover, also 23, the daughter of a nightclub owner, was killed in 1977.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Jackie Frank)