Event alert: Dame Diana Rigg (The Avengers, On Her Majesty's Secret Service) will appear at the Southbank Centre on March 9th for a special conversation about her career. From the press release: "Dame Diana Rigg’s career has spanned much-loved roles from The Avengers’ Emma Peel to Lady Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones. This rare close encounter with the writer and broadcaster Edward Seckerson promises to leave no stone unturned – or in the words of Rigg’s much-lauded collection of the worst ever theatrical reviews No Turn Unstoned. Last year, Rigg returned to Broadway in a revival of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. Her career began at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she shared a stage with Laurence Olivier when she was barely out of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She created leading roles in two plays by Tom Stoppard, Jumpers and Night and Day, and has received rave reviews in the great tragic roles including Medea (on Broadway), Mother Courage (at The National), Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and a Ted Hughes-translated Phèdre (at the Almeida). She has won some of theatre and television’s most coveted awards. One of our most distinguished actresses, she was made a CBE in 1988 and a DBE in 1994." Don't miss it if you are in the area! Tickets and info at Southbank Centre. Photo below by J.S Lewinski (National Portrait Gallery).
Diana Rigg spent her early years in India. She returned to England at age eight and began her training at RADA in 1955. Her first big break on television was in a 1963 episode of Sentimental Agent. Broadcast two years prior to her debut as Mrs. Emma Peel on The Avengers, the young actress already displayed her trademark gravitas and irresistible sharp intelligence, powerful independence, and charm. Following her seasons on The Avengers (1965-1968), Rigg has appeared in numerous stage productions, films, and television shows, including her own series, Diana (1973-1974), and her famous role as a Bond Girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). She has appeared most recently in Game of Thrones (winning an Emmy Award) and Doctor Who, and has expressed an interest in returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company. At age 80, she shows no signs of slowing down. "I don't want to retire," she has said. "I never want to retire. What's the point of it?" Rigg made a rare appearance at the BFI in 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her time on The Avengers and she co-starred as her daughter Rachael Stirling's fictional mom on the fantastic series The Detectorists. Rigg recently returned to Broadway in a 2018 production of My Fair Lady, for which she earned a Tony Award. She published a book, No Turn Unstoned, in 1983, and her biography was published in 2004 by Kathleen Tracy. Related posts: Diana Rigg Motor Show, Shakespeare Spies Rigg, Rigg eBook, Avengers Season 5 Titles, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Avengers Interview: Rodney Marshall I, Avengers Interview: Rodney Marshall II, Rare Avengers Scripts, Lost Avengers Released, Season 5 Blu-ray speed comparison, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Diana Rigg at 76, Jean Varon Fashion, Mini-Killers, Mrs. Peel Audio Dramas. Spy Vibers, also please check out my new book (over 700 pages!) about one of America's great cartoonists. On other creative fronts, folks might not know that I began exhibiting as a fine art photographer in the late 1980s. I haven't shared that part of my life here, but readers might like to see some of my work on Instagram. Enjoy!
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