Notably famous for her role of Emma Peel in "Bowler Hat and Leather Boots" and for that of the prickly Queen of Thorns Olenna Tyrell in "Game of Thrones", the British actress Diana Rigg died this Thursday at the age of 82 years old.
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Back in her native country after spending eight years in India, Diana Rigg goes to boarding school with her brother. She then graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from London in 1957, and began to perform on stage, specializing in particular in a classical repertoire, within the troupe Royal Shakespeare Company. It was not until 1965 that the young woman appeared on the small screen, succeeding Honor Blackman as the partner of John Steed (Patrick Macnee) in Bowler hat and leather boots. Integrating the series from season 4, she plays Emma Peel, a formidable spy as beautiful as she is intelligent and is essential in the eyes of the general public.
However, quickly feeling locked in the skin of the same character, Diana Rigg left the show in 1968 for a film in the James Bond franchise. The spectators then find her in the skin of Tracy, the only woman managing to marry Agent 007, played by George Lazenby in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The actress is also on the bill of Assassinations of all kinds, camping a novice journalist persuaded to hold a scoop. Unfortunately indisposed, she is nevertheless forced to decline the role of Elizabeth in The Kermesse of the West, facing Clint Eastwood, seeing herself replaced by Jean Seberg.
In 1970, Diana Rigg made her smashing Broadway debut in the play Abelard & Heloise, being one of the first actresses to appear nude on stage. After having shared the spotlight with Vincent Price in Theater of Blood, mixing thriller and mise en abyme, the young woman turns to the United States. She charmed George C. Scott in The Hospital in 1973, then played the title role of a fashion designer making a fresh start in New York in the sitcom's only season. Diana.
Diana Rigg in "Bowler Hat and Leather Boots"
In 1977, Diana Rigg gave birth to her daughter Rachael, from her union with Archibald Stirling, before appearing alongside Elizabeth Taylor in the musical A Little Night Music. Persevering in this register, the actress returned to the stage in 1982, interpreting the protagonist of Colette, which traces the tumultuous life of the French writer, then by representing herself on Broadway in Follies. Prolific, the artist also rubs shoulders with Laurence Olivier in The Lion King, without moving away from the cinema, whether in Murder in the Sun, new adventure by Hercule Poirot, or in a Shakespearean vein, by lending her features to the Egyptian queen in the adaptation of Antony and Cleopatra.
In 1989, Diana Rigg won the BAFTA for Best Actress for her performance in the skin of Helena Vesey, the eccentric and oppressive stepmother of the miniseries. A love that kills. In the early 90s, appearing more in secondary roles on television, however, she gave the answer to Sean Connery and John Lithgow in An Englishman in the tropics. A particularly prestigious period followed: Diana Rigg first obtained the title of Lady of the Order of the British Empire, in 1994, in recognition of her "exceptional career on stage and on screen in Great Britain", before winning the prize for Best Actress for her performances in Medea and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. The coronation continued in 1997 with an Emmy Award for her performance in Rebecca, where she found herself married to Charles Dance.
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The spicy Queen of Thorns in "Game of Thrones"
After investigating The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, Diana Rigg plays Rebeccah in At the beginning, a mini-series about the life of Abraham according to the Bible, while his daughter Rachael Stirling, having followed in his footsteps, lends her features to the same younger character. After several supporting roles, notably in the television movie Victoria and Albert on the love story of the British royal couple, she rubs shoulders with Daniel Radcliffe and Warwick Davis as guests in Extras, as well as Naomi Watts and Edward Norton in the romantic drama The Veil of Illusions, in 2006.
The mother / daughter actress duo turns back together for a Doctor Who episode, titled "The Crimson Horror" (season 7, episode 12), before Diana Rigg returns to the front of the stage, being offered the role of Olenna Tyrell in the phenomenon series Game of Thrones. From season 3, his character, nicknamed the Queen of Thorns, is a fine strategist in the heart of power games and allows him to obtain 3 nominations at the Emmy Awards. In 2017, the actress turns under the direction of Andy Serkis in Breathe, then integrates the cast of the second season of Victoria, as a regular, in the skin of the Duchess of Buccleuch.
In 2020, she joined the cast of Last Night in Soho by Edgar Wright alongside Matt Smith and Anya Taylor-Joy, and disappears on September 10 of that same year at the age of 82.
(Re) discover the trailer for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", in which Diana Rigg shared the bill with George Lazenby ...
