Everything about Diana Rigg totally explained
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg DBE (born
20 July 1938) is an
English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of
Emma Peel in
The Avengers and
Tracy Bond in the
1969 James Bond film
On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Biography
Early life
Rigg was born in the
South Yorkshire town of
Doncaster, to Louis Rigg and Beryl Helliwell; her father was a
railway engineer who had been born in
Yorkshire. She lived in
India between the ages of two months and eight years After leaving
The Avengers she appeared as the title character in the telemovie
The Marquise, which was based on a play by
Noel Coward.
She also returned to the stage, including playing two
Tom Stoppard leads, Ruth Carson in
Night and Day and Dorothy Moore in
Jumpers. A nude scene with
Keith Michell in
Abelard and Heloise led to a notorious description of her as 'built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses', by the crude and acerbic critic
John Simon.
In 1982, she appeared in a
musical called
Colette, based on the life of the
French writer and created by
Tom Jones and
Harvey Schmidt, but it closed during an American tour en route to
Broadway. In 1986, she took a leading role in the
West End production of
Stephen Sondheim's musical
Follies.
On the big screen she became a
Bond girl in
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), playing
Tracy Draco,
James Bond's only wife. Throughout the filming of the movie, there were rumors that the experience wasn't a happy one, owing to a personality clash with Bond actor
George Lazenby. The rumors may have arisen from a reporter witnessing her say "I'm having Garlic for lunch George [Lazenby] I hope you are!" before a love scene between the two. However, both Rigg and Lazenby have denied the claims, and both wrote off the garlic comment as a joke. Her other films include
The Assassination Bureau (1969),
The Hospital (1971),
Theatre of Blood (a film she considers to contain her best work) (1973), and
A Little Night Music (1977). She also appeared as Lady Holiday in the 1981 film
The Great Muppet Caper.
In the 1980s, after reading stinging reviews of a stage performance she'd given, Rigg was inspired to compile the worst theatrical reviews she could find into a tongue-in-cheek (and best-selling) compilation, entitled
No Turn Unstoned. In 1981 she appeared in a Yorkshire Television production of
Hedda Gabler
in the title role. In 1982 she received acclaim for her performance as Arlena Stuart Marshall in the film adaptation of Agatha Christie's
Evil Under the Sun. In 1984, she appeared in a public television production of
King Lear, starring Sir
Laurence Olivier in the title role, as Regan, the king's treacherous second daughter. In 1988, she played the Wicked Queen in the Cannon adaptation of
Snow White. In 1989, she played Helena Vesey in
Mother Love for the
BBC; her superb portrayal of an obsessive mother who was prepared to do anything, even murder, to keep control of her son won Diana the 1989
BAFTA for best actress.
In 1986, she presented the
Scottish Television series
Held in Trust, which focused on the work of the
National Trust for Scotland and some of its most famous treasures.
In the 1990s, she'd triumphs with roles at the
Almeida Theatre in
Islington, including
Medea in 1993 (for which she received the Best Actress Tony Award),
Mother Courage in 1995 and
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1996. On television she's appeared as Mrs. Danvers in
Rebecca, as well as the mother-in-law in the PBS production "Moll Flanders", and as the brilliant amateur detective Mrs. Bradley in
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries.
In this series, first aired in 2000, she played
Gladys Mitchell's detective, Dame Beatrice Adela Le Strange Bradley, an eccentric old woman who worked for
Scotland Yard as a pathologist. The series wasn't a critical success and didn't return for a second season.
From 1989 until 2003, she hosted the
PBS television series
Mystery!, taking over from
Vincent Price, her co-star from
Theatre of Blood. Her TV career in America has been varied; most famously she starred in her own series
Diana, but it wasn't successful.
Rigg has continued to perform on stage in London, the latest play being a drama entitled
Honour which had a limited but successful run in 2006.
Although she doesn't consider herself a singer, her performances in
A Little Night Music,
Follies and other stage musicals have been well received by audiences and critics alike. She made a highly memorable appearance with
Morecambe and Wise in 1976, in which she played
Nell Gwynne in a musical pastiche, joining
Eric and Ernie to sing “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?”.
She also appeared in the second season of
Ricky Gervais' hit comedy,
Extras, alongside
Harry Potter star
Daniel Radcliffe, and the 2006 film
The Painted Veil
She recently appeared as Huma Rojo in the
Old Vic's production of
All About My Mother, adapted by Samuel Adamson and based on the film of the same title directed by
Pedro Almodóvar. Her next stage appearance will be in
The Cherry Orchard at the
Chichester Festival Theatre.
Private life
She lived with
Philip Saville for some time. A marriage to
Menachem Gueffen, an
Israeli painter, lasted from 1973 to 1976; she was later married to
Archibald Stirling, a theatrical producer and former officer in the
Scots Guards, from 1982 to 1990. By Stirling she's a daughter, the actress
Rachael Stirling, who was born in 1977.
Rigg was made a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in
1988 and a
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in
1994.
Patrick Macnee, her co-star in
The Avengers, described Diana Rigg in a July 2006 documentary on
BBC Four as "just like an angel coming down from heaven."
Rigg is a Patron of
International Care & Relief and was for many years the public face of the charity's child sponsorship scheme. Rigg is Chancellor of the
University of Stirling. She will be succeeded by
James Naughtie when her term ends on 31 July 2008.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Diana Rigg'.
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