About Diana Rigg
An English actress, Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg was professionally known as Diana Rigg. She was well recognized for her role as Emma Peel in "The Avengers". She also played Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". In 2013, she began portraying Olenna Tyrell on HBO's "Game of Thrones". Rigg played the role of Miss Gillyflower alongside her real-life daughter, Rachael Stirling on the "Doctor Who" episode titled "The Crimson Horror" in 2013. She made her theatrical film debut in the 1968 fantasy film, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as Helena though she made her first TV show appearance in 1961 on the drama series, "Theatre Night" as the King. But, Rigg sadly died on 10th September this year after an illustrious career across stage and screen spanning the best part of 50 years.
Death of Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg, who was an English legendary actress passed away on 10th September 2020 in her London home at the age of 82. Her daughter, Rachael Stirling, said that the cause of death was lung cancer, which had been diagnosed in March. Besides, as Dame Diana makes a posthumous appearance in the BBC psychological thriller series "Black Narcissus", her co-star Karen Bryson recently paid tribute to the legendary actress.
Source: @gadgets.ndtv.com
Famous For
- Being an English actress.
- For her role as Emma Peel in "The Avengers".
Early Life of Diana Rigg
On 20th July 1938, Diana Rigg took birth with the real name or full name of Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. She held British nationality and British-white ethnicity. Rigg was from Christianity religion and her race was white. She used to happily celebrate her birthday on 20th July of every year and she had celebrated her 82nd birthday though as her birthdate, her star sign was Cancer. She was born to Louis (father) (1903-1968) and Beryl Hilda Rigg (mother) (nee Helliwell, 1908-1981). She also has a brother named Hugh Rigg. Her father was a railway engineer born in Yorkshire. She spoke Hindi as her second language as she lived in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, where her father was employed as a railway executive in the Bikaner State Railway. She was later sent back to England to attend a boarding school, Fulneck Girls School as well as she was trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1955 to 1957.
Career of Diana Rigg
Theatre career
- Diana Rigg kicked off her acting career in the RADA production of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" as Natasha Abashwilli at the York Festival in 1957 whereas she made her Broadway debut with the play, "Abelard and Heloise" in 1971.
- She starred in "The Misanthrope" as she took leading roles in "Jumpers" (National Theatre, 1972) and in "Night and Day" (Phoenix Theatre, 1978).
- As well, she starred in a leading role in the musical "Follies" however she had triumphed with roles at the Almeida Theatre in Islington, including "Medea" in 1992, "Mother Courage" at the National Theatre in 1995, and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at the Almeida Theatre in 1996.
- Analogously, she starred in "Suddenly Last Summer" as Violet Venable in 2004 and also appeared in London's West End in a drama entitled "Honour" in 2006.
- After that, she was seen in the Old Vic's production of "All About My Mother" in 2007 even so, she appeared in 2008 in "The Cherry Orchard" at the Chichester Festival Theatre, returning there in 2009 to star in Noel Coward's "Hay Fever".
- Also, she appeared as Mrs. Higgins in "Pygmalion" in 2011 as she returned to Broadway in the non-singing role of Mrs. Higgins in "My Fair Lady" in February 2018.
Film and Television Career
- Diana Rigg was firstly seen as John Steed in the British 1960s television series "The Avengers" (1961-1969) however, she became a Bond girl in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) on the big screen.
- Then, she starred in a short-lived US sitcom called "Diana" in 1973-1974 although her numerous films and series are "The Assassination Bureau" (1969), "Julius Caesar" (1970), "The Hospital" (1971), "Theatre of Blood" (1973), and many others.
- Similarly, she starred in "The Marquise" (1980) as the title character and appeared in "Hedda Gabler" (1981) as well as in the film "The Great Muppet Caper" (also 1981).
- She has also received acclaim for her performance as Arlena Marshall in the film "Evil Under the Sun", and appeared as Regan in "King Lear" (1983).
- In 1989, she played Helena Vesey in "Mother Love" for the BBC as well as appeared as Evgenia in "Zoya".
- Also, she had hosted the PBS television series "Mystery!" from 1989 until 2003 as she appeared in the second series of Ricky Gervais's comedy "Extras" and in the 2006 film "The Painted Veil" in which she played a nun.
- She then starred in an episode of "Doctor Who" in 2013 and cast in a recurring role in the third season of the HBO series "Game of Thrones" in the following year whereas she had reprised her role in season four of "Game of Thrones".
- Furthermore, she can be seen in "Black Narcissus" and in "All Creatures Great and Small" in 2020 although her next role can be seen in an upcoming psychological horror film "Last Night in Soho" in 2021.
Awards and Achievements of Diana Rigg
- BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress
- Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress
- Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
- Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie
- Variety Icon Award
Personal Life of Diana Rigg
Source: @whosdatedwho
Reflecting on Diana Rigg's personal life, she was a married woman. She lived for eight years with director Philip Saville in the 1960s, gaining attention in the tabloid press when she disclaimed interest in marrying the older and already-married Saville, saying that she had no desire "to be respectable". She tied a knot with an Israeli painter, Menachem Gueffen in 1973 but they got divorced in 1976. Then, she married Archibald Stirling, a theatrical producer, and former officer in the Scots Guards, from 25th March 1982 until their divorce in 1990 after his affair with the actress Joely Richardson. With Stirling, Rigg had a daughter, actress Rachael Stirling, who was born in 1977, five years before their marriage. Furthermore, talking about her sexual orientation, she was straight.
Source: @thesun.ie
Additionally, a smoker from the age of 18, Rigg was still smoking 20 cigarettes (one pack) a day in 2009. By December 2017, she had stopped smoking after a serious illness led to heart surgery, a cardiac ablation, two months earlier. She joked later, "My heart had stopped ticking during the procedure, so I was up there and the good Lord must have said, 'Send the old bag down again, I'm not having her yet!'"
Net Worth of Diana Rigg
Moving towards Diana Rigg's net worth, she had a worth of around $10 million at the time of her death. She had earned a fine amount of money from her career as her major source of income was from her acting career. Rigg also earned a handsome amount of salary too which was also in millions of dollars per year. She held out for a pay rise from 150 pounds a week to 450 pounds for her second series of "The Guardian"; she said in 2019 when gender pay inequality was very much in the news that "not one woman in the industry supported me ... Neither did Patrick Macnee, her co-star... But I was painted as this mercenary creature by the press when all I wanted was equality. It's so depressing that we are still talking about the gender pay gap."
Body Measurement of Diana Rigg
The height of beautiful and legendary actress, Diana Rigg was around 5 ft 8½ in or 174 cm whereas her body weight was around 58 kg or 128 lbs. Her defined jawline and sculpted nose attracted a lot of people towards her. She had dark brown eyes and hair color as her body build type was slim. She was a victim of lung cancer, which had been diagnosed in March. She had quite a few to show off that begin with her charming flimsy facial tone, perfect body measurements, squashed figure, and eye-catching pair of legs.
