Diana
Rigg
Born in a Yorkshire industrial town,
Rigg was two years old when her father, a railroad constructionist,
moved the family to India. Six years later, she was back in Yorkshire,
suffering through the discipline and rigors of private school until
one of her teachers introduced her to the world of the theatre. After
graduation, Rigg was accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art;
she went on to the Royal Shakespeare Company, where her deeply distinctive
voice, auburn red hair, and towering height (5'8") assured her
such dynamic roles as Viola in Twelfth Night and Cordelia in King
Lear. Though never lacking in prestige, the Royal Shakespeare paid
starvation wages, compelling Rigg to moonlight in the more lucrative
world of movies and TV. In 1965, she was selected to replace Honor
Blackman on the popular tongue-in-cheek TV-adventure series "The
Avengers," and for the next two years captivated little boys
of all ages with her energetic portrayal of coolheaded, leather-clad
karate expert Mrs. Emma Peel. Film stardom followed in short order
with plum roles in The Assassination Bureau (1968) and the James Bond
flick On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). Though she was always
welcome in films and television (she headlined a brief American sitcom,
"Diana," in 1973), Rigg preferred to think of herself as
a "theatre animal," and continued to star in the classics
on stage, still frequently accepting a miniscule salary in order to
satisfy her muse. In the last decade, Rigg published the hilarious
book No Turn Unstoned, in which she gathered together the worst reviews
ever received by the world's best actors (including her own bad notices);
in the early 1990s, she replaced Vincent Price as the host of PBS'
"Mystery" anthology. |