Line #4 Creator/DianaRigg


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diana_rigg_450.jpg]]
2	->''"An awful lot of actors shy away from the uglier aspects of the human condition. They want to be liked, which is a cop-out. You've got to go for it."''
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4	[[UsefulNotes/KnightFever Dame]] Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever DBE]] (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was a classically-trained English actress who worked with Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, as well as appearing on Broadway. She received the [[MediaNotes/TonyAwardWinners Tony Award]] for ''Theatre/{{Medea}}'', as well as an MediaNotes/EmmyAward for playing Mrs. Danvers in ''Series/{{Rebecca\|1997}}''. She also played ''Theatre/HeddaGabler'' and Regan in ''Theatre/KingLear'', among many other parts. She was made CBE in 1988 and a Dame in 1994.
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6	She was of course well known for her groundbreaking and iconic role as Emma Peel, the most famous female partner of British agent John Steed (Creator/PatrickMacnee) in the SpyFiction series ''Series/{{The Avengers\|1960s}}'', and for playing the only woman Film/JamesBond has ever married, Tracy di Vicenzo, in ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService''. In keeping with that spirit, Rigg was the host of PBS' ''Mystery'' from 1989-2003. She also made a new mark for wider audiences in the 2010s by playing Lady Olenna Tyrell (aka "The Queen of Thorns") in ''Series/GameOfThrones''.
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8	In other words, Diana went from helping to invent the SpyCatsuit trope by wearing it, to playing a seriously scary sort of CoolOldLady. When Lady Olenna Tyrell boasts about her sexual charms when she was young, it's a fair bet that many viewers are remembering Emma Peel in leather. And one advantage of her acting skill was that she was able to play a formidable DeadpanSnarker at any and every age.
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10	Her daughter, Creator/RachaelStirling, is also an actress, with a prolific career on both stage and TV. The two of them appeared in ''Series/DoctorWho'', in an [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror episode]] that was apparently written specifically for them.
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12	She passed away from lung cancer on September 10, 2020, at age 82.
13	----
14	!!Selected Film Roles
15	* ''Film/TheAssassinationBureau'' (1968) as Sonya Winter
16	* ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' (1968) as Helena
17	* ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' (1969) as Countess Teresa "Tracy" Draco di Vicenzo/Mrs James Bond
18	* ''Film/{{Julius Caesar\|1970}}'' (1970) as Portia
19	* ''Film/TheHospital'' (1971) as Barbara Drummond
20	* ''Film/TheatreOfBlood'' (1973) as Edwina Lionheart
21	* ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' (1981) as Lady Holiday
22	* ''Literature/EvilUnderTheSun'' (1982) as Arlena Stuart Marshall
23	* ''Snow White'' (1987) as the Evil Queen
24	* ''Film/PartingShots'' (1998) as Lisa Sterndale
25	* ''Film/ThePaintedVeil'' (2006) as Mother Superior
26	* ''Film/LastNightInSoho'' (2021) as Miss Collins
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28	!!Selected Television Roles
29	* ''Series/{{The Avengers\|1960s}}'' (1965-1968) as Emma Peel
30	* ''Theatre/KingLear'' (1983) as Regan
31	* ''Literature/BleakHouse'' (1985 BBC miniseries) as Lady Honoria Dedlock
32	* ''Film/TheWorstWitch'' (1986, TheFilmOfTheSeries) as Miss Hardbroom
33	* ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'' (1997 miniseries) as Mrs. Danvers
34	* ''Series/{{Extras}}'': ''Creator/DanielRadcliffe'' as herself
35	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]" (2013) as Mrs. Gillyflower
36	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' (2013-2017) as Lady Olenna Tyrell
37	* ''Series/YouMeAndTheApocalypse'' (2015) as Sutton
38	* ''[[Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall2020 All Creatures Great & Small]]'' (2020) as Mrs. Pumphrey
39	* ''Series/BlackNarcissus'' (2020) as Mother Dorothea
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41	!!Tropes & Trivia about her career:
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43	* [[invoked]]IAmNotSpock: To her, Emma Peel was just a role among many and she rapidly moved on from it, but to many people, it's the only one they know of her, and this was much to her chagrin. She flat out ''refused'' to attend fan conventions about ''The Avengers'', tended to avoid questions about the series when interviews didn't call for it, and sent back fan mail that had pictures of Emma Peel without signing them.
44	* [[invoked]]PosthumousCredit: Both ''Series/BlackNarcissus'' and ''Film/LastNightInSoho'' were released after she passed away. Also counts for her second episode of ''[[Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall2020 All Creatures Great & Small]]'', "A Tricki Case", which first aired 12 days after her passing.

Context Creator / DianaRigg