Funny, feisty and fearless Dame
Dame Diana Rigg Actress BORN JULY 20, 1938 – DIED SEPTEMBER 10, 2020, AGED 82
IN A distinguished career spanning seven decades, Diana Rigg was a classical actress, feminist icon, sex symbol and humorist but in each and every role she was a consummate performer.
Making her name as the leather- clad, karate- kicking Emma Peel in 1960s hit show The Avengers, Rigg dazzled on screen as a liquid- eyed beauty with an indomitable attitude.
She was the only woman to marry James Bond, playing Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo opposite George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
And for a whole new generation of fans, she was the witty, silver- tongued Lady Olenna Tyrell in Game Of Thrones.
She was a formidable stage actor too, winning a Tony award for the title role of Medusa in 1994.
Her other successes included acclaimed performances in Pygmalion and Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer. Rigg was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, but as a toddler moved to India with her parents Louis and Beryl until she was eight.
Her father was a railway engineer for the Maharaja of Bikaner. By the time of her return, Rigg spoke Hindi as her second language. After training at Rada from 1955 to 1957, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and received great acclaim as Cordelia in King Lear.
Rigg, whose husky voice was coupled with a 20 cigarettes- a- day habit, did not enjoy the fame later foisted upon her by The Avengers. She sought refuge on stage but also remained on TV, scoring an Emmy as Mrs Danvers in the 1997 production of Rebecca.
Married twice, she was made a CBE in 1988 and a Dame in 1994. She died after being diagnosed with cancer in March and is survived by her daughter, actress Rachael Stirling.