Diana Rigg: a life in pictures | Television & radio

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Diana Rigg: a life in pictures

Avengers star Diana Rigg has died at the age of 82. We look back at her career on television, stage and film; from Emma Peel in 1965 to Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones 50 years later

Main image: Diana Rigg in The Avengers’ Series 4 opening titles Photograph: StudioCanal Films//Rex/Shutterstock

Thu 10 Sep 2020 09.47 EDT Last modified on Thu 10 Sep 2020 13.17 EDT

  • Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg was born in Doncaster, Yorkshire, on 20 July 1938. She trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1955-57 and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959

  • The Sentimental Agent, 1963

    Rigg in one of her first screen appearances as Francy Wilde in an episode of the crime drama TV series entitled A Very Desirable Plot

  • King Lear, 1964

    Paul Scofield as King Lear and Diana Rigg as Cordelia at a photocall in Berlin during the Royal Shakespeare Company’s tour of Europe and the US

  • Rigg in 1965

  • The Avengers

    Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee star as Emma Peel and John Steed

  • The Avengers

    Publicity shots for the show, which was a runaway hit shown in more than 90 countries

  • The Avengers 1965-68

    Emma Peel’s life is in danger as The Avengers try to thwart a plot to destroy Britain’s early warning radar system in episode The Gravediggers, aired 9 October 1965

  • Rigg at the Mermaid theatre in London, 1968.

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968

    Diana Rigg as Helena and Helen Mirren as Hermia in Peter Hall’s film of the Shakespeare play

  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969

    A poster for the James Bond film, with George Lazenby as 007, in which Rigg played the mysterious Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo

  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

    Rigg’s Contessa (AKA Tracy) captures Bond’s heart, marries him and is then murdered by Spectre’s Ernst Blofeld

  • Diana Rigg in a publicity shot for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

  • The Hospital, 1971

    George C Scott and Diana Rigg in the satirical comedy movie which saw her nominated for the best supporting actress Golden Globe

  • The Misanthrope, 1973

    As Célimène at the National Theatre in London. The following year the production of Molière’s play moved to New York City, where Rigg received a Tony nomination for her performance.

  • Theatre of Blood, 1973

    Vincent Price as Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart, left, and his daughter Edwina played by Rigg, exact deadly revenge on a host of disparaging theatre critics, in this classic British horror film. Here critic Meredith Merridew, played by Robert Morley, is killed by force-feeding him his dogs

  • Former Avengers and Bond stars Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg at a party in 1974

  • The Great Muppet Caper, 1981

    Lady Holiday, played by Diana Rigg, gives instructions to her secretary, Miss Piggy, in Jim Henson’s movie

  • King Lear, 1983

    Rigg as Regan with Laurence Olivier as King Lear in an adaptation for television

  • Follies, 1987

    Julia McKenzie, Lynda Baron and Diana Rigg in the Stephen Sondheim musical at the Shaftesbury theatre in London

  • Diana Rigg in the early 1990s

  • Medea, 1993

    Diana Rigg in the lead role at Wyndham’s theatre in London. The production transferred to Broadway in 1994 and Rigg won the Tony award for best actress

  • Dame Diana, 1994

    Diana Rigg with her daughter Rachael Stirling at Buckingham Palace where she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1994

  • Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf?, 1996

    Rigg as Martha with David Suchet as George at the Almeida theatre in London

  • Rebecca, 1997

    Diana Rigg played Mrs Danvers, with Emilia Fox as the second Mrs de Winter and Charles Dance as Maxim. Rigg won the Emmy for outstanding supporting actress for her role in this TV adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s thriller

  • Diana Rigg and her daughter Rachael Stirling photographed at the National Theatre in London for the Observer in May 2005

  • Hay Fever, 2009

    Rigg as Judith Bliss in Noël Coward’s farce, at the Chichester Festival theatre, with Laura Rogers and Sam Alexander as her children Sorel and Simon

  • Doctor Who, 2013

    Rigg and Rachael Stirling appeared together in the Doctor Who story The Crimson Horror, set in 19th century Yorkshire, alongside Jenna-Louise Coleman, left, as Clara and Matt Smith as The Doctor

  • Game of Thrones, 2013-17

    Rigg was nominated for the outstanding guest actress Emmy three times for her role as Olenna Tyrell, aka the Queen of Thorns, pictured here with granddaughter Margaery, played by Natalie Dormer

  • Diana Rigg, 1938-2020

    Photographed here by Jane Bown in February 2004.
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