Diana Rigg

Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg DBE (20 July 1938 – 10 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series The Avengers (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969); Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones (2013–2017); and the title role in Medea in the West End in 1993 followed by Broadway a year later.

Rigg in 1973

Quotes

• Becoming a sex symbol overnight [in The Avengers] shocked me. I didn’t know how to handle it and I kept all the unopened fan mail in the boot of my car because I didn't know how to respond and thought it was rude to throw it away.
  • From an interview, as cited in "Diana Rigg: 'Becoming a sex symbol overnight shocked me'", The Guardian (30 March 2019)

• That was my first battle with male authority. I discovered after a while in The Avengers that I was earning less than the cameraman. I made a bit of a song and dance about it and demanded more. I was ahead of the game, in that respect, because nobody backed me up. There was no sisterhood. In those days, you were on your own.
  • From an interview, as cited in "Diana Rigg Reflects on Road to Parity, Avengers and Game of Thrones Roles", Variety (2 April 2019)

• Obviously, it's great that has happened, and great it was a young audience — terrific [...] That's the nature of my profession. The young, I don't expect them to know about my past, but if, through Game of Thrones, they discover me, that's good.
  • From a phone interview, as cited in "An ode to Diana Rigg, the Queen of Shade on Game of Thrones", Entertainment Weekly (31 March 2019)