Dame Diana Rigg: Avengers, Bond and Game of Thrones actress dies at 82
She was not on the list.
Actress Dame Diana Rigg, famous for roles including Emma Peel in TV series The Avengers and Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones, has died at the age of 82.
Her daughter, actress Rachael Stirling, said she died of cancer, after being diagnosed in March.
"She spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession," she added.
Dame Diana also played the only woman who became Mrs James Bond.
She played Tracy in 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Her more recent roles included the Duchess of Buccleuch in ITV's Victoria and Mrs Pumphrey in Channel 5's new adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small.
Stirling went on to say: "My Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family. I will miss her beyond words."
Sir Tom Stoppard added: "For half her life Diana was the most beautiful woman in the room, but she was what used to be called a Trouper. She went to work with her sleeves rolled up and a smile for everyone. Her talent was luminous."
'She swept all before her'
Fellow playwright Sir David Hare said the actress had a "dazzling change of direction in middle age as a great classical actor".
He said: "When Emma Peel played Euripides' Medea, Albee's Martha and Brecht's Mother Courage she swept all before her."
Her four Tony Awards nominations resulted in a win for her searing portrayal in the leading role in the stage play Medea in 1994.
Writer and actor Mark Gatiss also paid tribute.
It was my great joy and privilege to have known Diana Rigg. From three slightly hysterical months at the Old Vic in ‘All About Mother’ to writing The Crimson Horror for Diana and her wonderful daughter Rachael. Flinty, fearless, fabulous. There will never be another. RIP pic.twitter.com/2EGc4MVx0S— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) September 10, 2020
Director Jonathan Kent added that her "combination of force of personality, beauty, courage and sheer emotional power, made her a great classical actress - one of an astonishing generation of British stage performers".
He said: "Her dazzling wit and that inimitable voice made her an unforgettable leading figure in British theatre."
Her agent Simon Beresford said she "died at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time".
He added: "Dame Diana was force of nature who loved her work and her fellow actors."
Last year, Dame Diana spoke of her delight at her role in Game of Thrones, telling the BBC: "I love playing bad [characters]. They are so much more interesting than good.
"There are some actors who don't like to play bad; they like to be liked. I love to be disliked. Olenna had the best lines."
In 1990, Dame Diana won a best actress Bafta TV award for playing a difficult mother-in-law in Mother Love. She also won a Bafta special award in 2000 for The Avengers, shared with the series' other stars Honor Blackman, Joanna Lumley and Linda Thorson.
Dame Diana was also nominated for nine primetime Emmy awards, winning for her role as Mrs Danvers in Rebecca in 1997.
Filmography
Film
Year , Title , Role , Notes
1968 , A Midsummer Night's Dream , Helena ,
1969 , Mini-Killers , , Short film
The Assassination Bureau , Sonya Winter ,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service , Teresa "Tracy" di Vicenzo ,
1970 , Julius Caesar , Portia ,
1971 , The Hospital , Barbara Drummond ,
1973 , Theatre of Blood , Edwina Lionheart ,
1977 , A Little Night Music , Countess Charlotte Mittelheim ,
1981 , The Great Muppet Caper , Lady Holiday ,
1982 , Evil Under the Sun , Arlena Marshall ,
1986 , The Worst Witch , Miss Hardbroom ,
1987 , Snow White , The Evil Queen ,
1994 , A Good Man in Africa , Chloe Fanshawe ,
1999 , Parting Shots , Lisa ,
2005 , Heidi , Grandmamma ,
2006 , The Painted Veil , Mother Superior ,
2015 , The Honourable Rebel , Narrator ,
2017 , Breathe , Lady Neville ,
2021 , Last Night in Soho , Miss Collins , Post-production; Posthumous release; Final film role
Television
Year , Title , Role , Notes
1959 , A Midsummer Night's Dream , Bit part , Television film
1963 , The Sentimental Agent , Francy Wilde , Episode: "A Very Desirable Plot"
1964 , Festival , Adriana , Episode: "The Comedy of Errors"
Armchair Theatre , Anita Fender , Episode: "The Hothouse"
1965 , ITV Play of the Week , Bianca , Episode: "Women Beware Women"
1965–1968 , The Avengers , Emma Peel , Main role (51 episodes)
1970 , ITV Saturday Night Theatre , Liz Jardine , Episode: "Married Alive"
1973–1974 , Diana , Diana Smythe , Main role (15 episodes)
1974 , Affairs of the Heart , Grace Gracedew , Episode: "Grace"
1975 , In This House of Brede , Philippa , TV film
The Morecambe & Wise Show , Nell Gwynne , Sketch in Christmas Show
1977 , Three Piece Suite , Various , Regular role (6 episodes)
1979 , Oresteia , Clytemnestra , TV miniseries
1980 , The Marquise , Eloise , TV film
1981 , Hedda Gabler , Hedda Gabler , TV film
1982 , Play of the Month , Rita Allmers , Episode: Little Eyolf
Witness for the Prosecution , Christine Vole , TV film
1983 , King Lear , Regan , TV film
1985 , Bleak House , Lady Honoria Dedlock , TV miniseries
1986 , The Worst Witch , Miss Constance Hardbroom , TV film
1987 , A Hazard of Hearts , Lady Harriet Vulcan , TV film
1989 , The Play on One , Lydia , Episode: "Unexplained Laughter"
Mother Love , Helena Vesey , TV miniseries
British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
Broadcast Press Guild Award for Best Actress
1992 , Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris , Mme. Colbert , TV film
1993 , Road to Avonlea , Lady Blackwell , Episode: "The Disappearance"
Running Delilah , Judith , TV film
Screen Two , Baroness Frieda von Stangel , Episode: "Genghis Cohn"
Nominated – CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
1995 , Zoya , Evgenia , TV film
The Haunting of Helen Walker , Mrs. Grose , TV film
1996 , The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders , Mrs. Golightly , TV film
Samson and Delilah , Mara , TV film
1997 , Rebecca , Mrs. Danvers , TV miniseries
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1998 , The American , Madame de Bellegarde , TV film
1998–2000 , The Mrs Bradley Mysteries , Mrs. Adela Bradley , Main role (5 episodes)
2000 , In the Beginning , Mature Rebeccah , TV film
2001 , Victoria & Albert , Baroness Lehzen , TV miniseries
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
2003 , Murder in Mind , Jill Craig , Episode: "Suicide"
Charles II: The Power and the Passion , Queen Henrietta Maria , TV miniseries
2006 , Extras , Herself , Episode: "Daniel Radcliffe"
2013–2017 , Game of Thrones , Olenna Tyrell , 18 episodes
Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2013, 2014, 2015, 2018)
Nominated – Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series (2013, 2014)
2013 , Doctor Who , Mrs. Winifred Gillyflower , Episode: "The Crimson Horror"
2015; 2017 , Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero , Mayor Pink Panda (voice) , 3 episodes
Detectorists , Veronica , 6 episodes
2015 , You, Me and the Apocalypse , Sutton , 5 episodes
Professor Branestawm Returns , Lady Pagwell , TV film
2017 , Victoria , Duchess of Buccleuch , 9 episodes
2019 , The Snail and the Whale , Narrator , Short television film
2020 , All Creatures Great and Small , Mrs. Pumphrey , 2 episodes
Black Narcissus , Mother Dorothea , Upcoming miniseries; Posthumous release; Final television role
Theatre credits
List of selected theatre credits
Year , Title , Role , Notes
1957 , The Caucasian Chalk Circle , Natella Abashwili , Theatre Royal, York Festival
1964 , King Lear , Cordelia , Royal Shakespeare Company (European/US Tour)
1966 , Twelfth Night , Viola , Royal Shakespeare Company
1970 , Abelard and Heloise , Heloise , Wyndham's Theatre, London
1971 , Abelard and Heloise , Heloise , Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York
1972 , Macbeth , Lady Macbeth , Old Vic Theatre, London
1972 , Jumpers , Dorothy Moore , Old Vic Theatre, London
1973 , The Misanthrope , Célimène , Old Vic Theatre, London
1974 , Pygmalion , Eliza Doolittle , Albery Theatre, London
1975 , The Misanthrope , Célimène , St. James Theatre, New York
1978 , Night and Day , Ruth Carson , Phoenix Theatre, London
1982 , Colette , Colette , US national tour
1983 , Heartbreak House , Lady Ariadne Utterword , Theatre Royal Haymarket, London
1985 , Little Eyolf , Rita Allmers , Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, London
1985 , Antony and Cleopatra , Cleopatra , Chichester Festival Theatre, UK
1986 , Wildfire , Bess , Theatre Royal, Bath & Phoenix Theatre, London
1987 , Follies , Phyllis Rogers Stone , Shaftesbury Theatre, London
1990 , Love Letters , Melissa , Stage Door Theatre, San Francisco
1992 , Putting It Together , , Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford
1992 , Berlin Bertie , Rosa , Royal Court Theatre, London
1992 , Medea , Medea , Almeida Theatre, London
1993 , Medea , Medea , Wyndham's Theatre, London
1994 , Medea , Medea , Longacre Theatre, New York
1995 , Mother Courage and Her Children , Mother Courage , National Theatre, London
1996 , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf , Martha , Almeida Theatre, London
1997 , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf , Martha , Aldwych Theatre, London
1998 , Phaedra , Phaedra , Almeida at the Albery Theatre, London & BAM in Brooklyn
1998 , Britannicus , Agrippina , Almeida at the Albery Theatre, London & BAM in Brooklyn
2001 , Humble Boy , Flora Humble , National Theatre, London
2002 , The Hollow Crown , , International Tour: New Zealand, Australia, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK
2004 , Suddenly, Last Summer , Violet Venable , Albery Theatre, London
2006 , Honour , Honour , Wyndham's Theatre, London
2007 , All About My Mother , Huma Rojo , Old Vic Theatre, London
2008 , The Cherry Orchard , Ranyevskaya , Chichester Festival Theatre, UK
2009 , Hay Fever , Judith Bliss , Chichester Festival Theatre, UK
2011 , Pygmalion , Mrs. Higgins , Garrick Theatre, London
2018 , My Fair Lady , Mrs. Higgins , Vivian Beaumont Theatre, New York
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