Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg (Doncaster, July 20, 1938 – London, September 10, 2020) was a British actress. From 1965 to 1968 she played the role of Emma Peel in the television series The Avengers, in 1969 she played Countess Teresa di Vincenzo, wife of James Bond in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (007 at the service of her Majesty) and between 2013 and 2017 Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns, in the series Game of Thrones. In theater she played, among others, the role of Medea , in London and New York for which she won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. For her services to the theater she was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1988, and in 1994 she was made a Dame.

Rigg made his professional stage debut in 1957 in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959. He made his Broadway debut in the 1971 production of Abelardo & Eloise. Her film roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968); Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and Arlena Marshall in Death Under the Sun (1982). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC mini-series Mother Love (1989) and an Emmy Award for her role as Mrs. Danvers in an adaptation of Rebecca > (1997). His other television credits include You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015), Detectorists (2015) and the Doctor Who episode “The Crimson Horror”. ” (2013) with her daughter, also actress Rachael Stirling.

Biography

He was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. From the age of two to eight, he lived in Jodhpur, north-west India, where his father, a railway engineer, worked for the Bikaner State Railway. Diana spoke Hindi as a second language when she was young. She was sent back to England where she studied at a boarding school. She first attended Great Missenden College in Buckinghamshire County, and three years later transferred to Fulneck Girl's School. at Pudsey, in the County of Yorkshire, near the city of Leeds.

She trained as an actress at the Academy of Dramatic Art with classmates from 1955-1957 such as Glenda Jackson and Siân Phillips.

Career in the theater

At the age of 17 Rigg auditioned for the RADA in London in 1955. In 1957 she made her debut playing the role of Natasha Abashwilli in the RADA production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle (The Caucasian Chalk Circle) at the York Festival. She worked for two years in the repertory theater and also as an assistant to the stage manager.

She returned to the stage in Ronald Millar's Abelard and Heloïse in London in 1970 and made her Broadway debut in 1971, earning the first of three Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Play.

She received her second nomination in 1975 for The Misanthrope. She was a member of the Royal National Theater Company at the Old Vic from 1972 to 1975 playing leading roles in two Tom Stoppard productions, Dorothy Moore in Jumpers (1972) and Ruth Carson in Night and Day (1978).

In 1982, she appeared in a musical called Colette, based on the life of the well-known French writer of the same name created by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, but it closed during a US tour en route to Broadway.. In 1987, she took a lead role in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies. In the 1990s, she had successes with roles at the Almeida Theater in Islington, including Medea in 1992 (which transferred to Wyndham's Theater in 1993 and then to Broadway in 1994, for the which received the Tony Awards for Best Actress), Mother Courage at the National Theater in 1995 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Almeida Theater in 1996 (which moved to the Aldwych Theater in October 1996).

In 2004, she appeared as Violet Venable in the Sheffield Theaters production of Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer, which transferred to the Albery Theatre. In 2006, she appeared at Wyndham's Theater in London's West End in a drama titled Honor which had a limited but successful run. In 2007, she appeared as Huma Rojo in the Old Vic production of All About My Mother, adapted by Samuel Adamson and based on the film of the same title directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

She appeared in 2008 in The Cherry Orchard at the Chichester Festival Theatre, where she returned in 2009 to star in Noël Coward's Hay Fever. In 2011, she played Mrs. Higgins in Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre, opposite Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon, after having played Eliza Doolittle 37 years earlier at the Albery Theatre.

In February 2018 she returned to Broadway, again in the (non-singing) role of Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady. On her role, she commented that it was "very special" for her. She received her fourth Tony Award nomination for this role.

The Avengers (1960s)

Rigg appeared in the 1960s British television series The Avengers (The Avengers) produced by the Associated British Corporation, (1961-1969) alongside Patrick Macnee as John Steed, playing secret agent Emma Peel in 51 episodes, replacing Elizabeth Shepherd on a very short notice when Shepherd was dropped from the role after filming two episodes. Rigg auditioned for the role without having seen the show.

"When they called me I was in the Royal Shakespeare Company, I was very young, I was poor, I didn't even have a television," she recounted. She accepted the role of Emma Peel, first her assistant and then partner of super-spy John Steed (Patrick Macnee). In 2019 she explained that her theater colleagues thought at that time that going to TV "was almost prostitution" and that "it would spoil my career." The Avengers was a success and she became a star identified as a pop heroine and feminist symbol. "No one on set imagined that Emma would become that reference for so many women," she explains. In 1999 She was chosen in a vote by the American magazine TV Guide as the sexiest woman of all time.

“Becoming a sex symbol overnight [in The Avengers] surprised me. I didn't know how to handle it and I kept all the unopened fan mail in the trunk of my car because I didn't know how to respond and I thought it was rude to throw it away. So my mom became my secretary and she responded to the really inappropriate ones by saying, 'My daughter is too old for you. She Go Take A Cold Shower!""

Pioneer in the demand for equal pay

Rigg pioneered the demand for equal pay between actors and actresses that decades later, in the 21st century, became a widespread demand for Hollywood actresses. She clashed with the production company Associated British Corporation (ABC) when she discovered that Patrick Macnee, the series' male lead, and the cameraman were paid more than she was. In the second series she demanded a wage increase from £150 a week to £450; a fight she had to take on alone: "No woman in the industry supported me. [...] Neither did Patrick. [...] the press described me as a mercenary creature when all I wanted was equality. It's so depressing that we're still talking about the gender pay gap". He was wonderful, but like so many men, he didn't want to get in trouble ».

Not only did Rigg get better pay, but he also got more flexibility in recording sessions, giving him time to perform on stage, which he did by taking part in a production of Shakespeare's again. Company. Years later, when he was celebrating five decades of television career in mid-2019, he explained "less than wage inequality, television has completely changed." He did not stay in production for the third season, leaving The Avengers at the top. She was replaced in the series by Canadian actress Linda Thorson.

For her role as Emma Peel, Rigg received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series, in 1967 and 1968.

Career in the 70s, 80s and 90s

In 1969 she shot the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), playing Teresa di Vincenzo, wife of James Bond, along with George Lazenby, the only one in the series starring by said actor. Rigg explained that she took on the role hoping to become better known in the U.S. In 1973-1974, she starred in a short-lived American sitcom called Diana which Rigg said was a disaster, but allowed him to pay the mortgage.

Rigg with George Lazenby in 1968.

During this period he also shot The Assassination Bureau (1969), Julius Caesar (1970), The Hospital (1971), Theatre of Blood (1973), In This House of Brede (1975), based on the book by Rumer Godden, and A Little Night Music (1977). He appeared as the title character in The Marquise (1980), a television adaptation of the Noël Coward play. She appeared in the Yorkshire Television production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1981) in the title role, and as Lady Holiday in the film The Great Muppet Caper (also 1981).. The following year she received acclaim for her portrayal of Arlena Marshall in the film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death Under the Sun , sharing a plane with her character's former rival, played by Maggie Smith..

She also starred as Portia in the 1970 version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with Charlton Heston.

During the 1980s Rigg appeared in a few movies and on television, while his stage career was lagging behind. She only acted in the musical Colette in 1987.

In the nineties he returned to the stage, at the Almeida Theater in Islington, and achieved a succession of successes for his intervention in works such as All for Love, Medea, Mother Courage (Mother Courage and her children) by Bertolt Brecht and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Who afraid of Virginia Woolf?). She also returned to film to act in films such as Moll Flanders and the TV version of Rebecca , for which she won her only Emmy Award in 1997.

In 1996, she was nominated for the Olivier Award, the highest British award for theater performance, and at the end of the same year she received the London Evening Standard Drama Award, also for theater, as best actress for her roles in Mother Courage and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

Rigg was a co-founder and director of United British Artists, the British acting association.

Game of Thrones (2013-2017) and latest works

Between 2013 and 2017, she appeared in 18 episodes of the series Game of Thrones as Regent Olenna Tyrell, matriarch of House Tyrell, a highly acclaimed performance for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award from 2013 to 2018.

His latest television work was Detectorists (2015-2017), Victoria, You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015-2016), All Creatures Great and Small and the three-episode series Black Narcissus (2020).

In cinema, his last performance was in the British horror film Last Night in Soho (2021), by Edgar Wright. The film is dedicated to Rigg's memory.

Personal life

In 1960 Rigg lived for eight years with director Philip Saville, gaining tabloid attention when he denied any interest in marrying the older and already married Saville, saying he had no desire "to be respectable". Between 1973 and 1976 she was married to the Israeli painter Menachem Gueffen and later to the theater producer, Archibald Hugh Stirling between 1982 and 1990. With Stirling she had a daughter, Rachael Atlanta Stirling, who was born in 1977, five years before she married. Casaran, who also followed her mother's career as an actress. In 2017, her first and only grandchild, Jack, was born.

Death

The actress passed away on September 10, 2020 at the age of 82, as a result of cancer that was diagnosed in March 2020.

Awards and recognitions

In 1988 she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 1994 she was made Dame, an English honorary title, the female equivalent of Sir of the Order of the British Empire.

He has also received honorary awards from the universities of Leeds, Stirling and Nottingham; and for the merits of his interpretation on stage and on television:

• 1990 BAFTA Award and Broadcasting Press Guild Award Mother.
• 1992 Evening Standard Theatre Award Medea.
• 1994 Tony Award Medea.
• 1996 Evening Standart Award for Mother Courage and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
• 1997 Emmy Award for Best Dealer Actress Rebecca. (9 nominations in your career).
• 2000 BAFTA Special Prize for its work The Avengers.
• 2019, was distinguished by the Canneséries Festival, Cannes International Series Festival with the Prix Variety that distinguishes an exceptional race to actors and actresses.

Posts

He wrote two books, one on the world of theater; No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews ('Nothing was left unstoned: the worst theatrical reviews in history') in 1983; and the other a collection of English lyric poetry, So to the Land ('So [dedicated] to the homeland') in 1994.

Trajectory

Rigg signing autographs in 2011.

Theater

• 1959 - The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Natasha Abashwilli)
• 1959 - Othello
• 1959 - Alls Well That Ends Well
• 1960 - Merchant of Venice (The Merchant of Venice)
• 1960 - A Winter's Tale
• 1960 - The Duchess of Malfi (The Duchess of Amalfi)
• 1961 - The Devils (Philippe Trincant)
• 1961 - Becket
• 1961 - The Taming of the Shrew
• 1961 - Troilus and Cressida (Troilo and Crésidalike Andromaca
• 1962 - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sueño de una noche de veranolike Helena)
• 1962 - Macbeth (like Lady Macbeth)
• 1962 - King Lear (Cordelia)
• 19? A Comedy of Errors (Adriana)
• 1963: The Physicists
• 1968 - Twelfth Night (Viola)
• 1970 - Abelard and Heloise (Abelardo and Eloísalike Eloísa)
• 1971 - Jumpers (Dolly)
• 1971 - Macbeth (like Lady Macbeth)
• 1971 - The Misanthrope (Celimene)
• 1974 - Pygmalion (Eliza Doolittle)
• 1976 - Phaedra Britannica (Phaedra)
• 1978 - Night and Day
• 1982 - Colette (Colette)
• 1985 - Antony and Cleopatra
• 1987 - Follies
• 1990 - All for Love (Cleopatra)
• 1994 - Medea (Medea)
• 1994 - Phedre
• 1995 - Mother Courage (Madre Coraje)
• 1996 - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• 1998 - Phedre and Britannicus (Colette)
• 1999 - Almeida (Britannicus)
• 2001 - Humble Boy
• 2001 - The Women
• 2002 - The Hollow Crown
• 2004 - Suddenly, Last Summer
• 2006 - Honour
• 2008 - There's Fever.
• 2008 - The Cherry Orchard
• 2011 - Pygmalion
• 2018 - My Fair Lady

Filmography

• 1962 - Our Man in the Caribbean
• 1968 - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena)
• 1969 - The Assassination Bureau (Miss Winters)
• 1969 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Tracy Vincenzo)
• 1970 - Julius Caesar (Portia)
• 1971 - The Hospital (Barbara Drummond)
• 1973 - Theatre of Blood (Edwina Lionheart)
• 1977 - A Little Night Music (Charlotte Mittelheim)
• 1981 - The Great Muppet Caper (Lady Holiday)
• 1982 - Death under the sun (Arlena Marshall)
• 1987 - Snow White (The Evil Queen, the evil stepmother of Snow White)
• 1993 - Genghis Cohn (Frieda von Stangel)
• 1994 - A Good Man in Africa (Chloe Fanshawe)
• 1998 - Parting Shots (Lisa)
• 2005 - Heidi (Grandma)
• 2006 - The Painted Veil (Madre superiora)
• 2021 - Last Night in Soho (Ms Collins, last film paper)

Novels and movies adapted for television

• 1964 - The Comedy of Errors (Adriana)
• 1965 - Armchair Theatre: The Hothouse
• 1965 - Blood & Thunder: Women Beware Women
• 1970 - Saturday Night Theatre: "Married Alive" (Liz Jardine)
• 1975 - In This House of Brede (Give me Phillipa)
• 1980 - The Marquise (Eloise La Marquise d'Casternell)
• 1981 - The Great Muppet Caper (Lady Holiday)
• 1982 - Witness for the Prosecution (Christine Vole)
• 1982 - Little Eyolf (Rita Allmers)
• 1984 - King Lear (Regan)
• 1986 - The Worst Witch (Miss Hardbroom)
• 1987 - Unexplained Laughter (Lydia)
• 1987 - A Hazard of Hearts (Lady Harriet Vulcan)
• 1992 - Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris (Mme. Colbert)
• 1994 - Running Delilah (Judith)
• 1995 - Danielle Steel's Zoya (Countess Evgenia)
• 1995 - The Haunting of Helen Walker (Mrs. Grose)
• 1996 - The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (Mrs. Golightly)
• 1996 - Samson and Delilah (Mara)
• 1997 - Rebeca (Mrs. Danvers)
• 1999 - The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries: The Speedy Death (Mrs. Adela Bradley)
• 1999 - The American (Madame de Bellegarde)
• 2003 - Murder In Mind (Jill Craig)
• 2020 - Black Narcissus (Madre Dorothea)

TV series

• 1965 - The Avengers (Emma Peel)
• 1973 - Diana (Diana Smythe)
• 19? Held In Trust - A Video Guide to Scotland (Presenter)
• 1977 - Three Piece Suite - six-part series (Main Artist)
• 1979 - Oresteia - miniserie (Kytamnestra)
• 1980 - Mystery! (Anfitriona)
• 1981 - Hedda Gabler
• 1985 - Bleak House - miniserie (Lady Dedlock)
• 1989 - Mother - miniserie (Helena Vesey)
• 1999 - The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries (Mrs. Adela Bradley)
• 2000 - In the Beginning - miniserie (Rebeccah adulta)
• 2001 - Victoria and Albert - mini-series (Lehzen Baroness)
• 2013-2017 - Game of Thrones - Olenna Tyrell (18 episodes)
• 2017 - Victoria - Buccleuch Duchess

TV appearances as a guest artist

• 1963 - The Sentimental Agent - Chapter: "A Very Desirable Plot" (Francy)
• 1964 - The Comedy of Errors (Adriana)
• 1975 - Morecambe & Wise Christmas Show (like herself)
• 1990 - Road to Avonlea - Chapter: "The Disappearance" (Lady Blackwell)
• 2006 - Extras - Chapter 3 of the 2nd season (as she herself)
• 2013 - Doctor Who - Chapter: "The Crimson Horror" (Mrs. Gillyflower)
• 2020 - All Creatures Great and Small (Mrs. Pumphrey)

Video

• 2001 - The Theatre Museum, Covent Garden

Bibliography

• 1982 - No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews
• 1994 - So To The Land