{"id":66165,"date":"2020-09-11T02:14:02","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T02:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=66165"},"modified":"2020-09-11T02:14:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T02:14:02","slug":"diana-rigg-star-avengers-game-thrones-dead-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=66165","title":{"rendered":"Diana Rigg, star of \u2018The Avengers\u2019 and \u2018Game of Thrones,\u2019 dead at 82"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dame Diana Rigg, of James Bond and \u201cThe Avengers\u201d fame, has died \u201cpeacefully\u201d at 82.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0acclaimed actress\u00a0known for her role as Contessa Teresa di Vicenzo, the only Bond girl to ever marry 007, Rigg was bestowed her \u201cDame\u201d title in 1994 for her contributions to all things drama.<\/p>\n

The iconic Brit suffered from cancer and died surrounded by her family Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family,\u201d her daughter, \u201cBletchley Circle\u201d actress Rachael Stirling,\u00a0told the Sun. \u201cShe died of cancer diagnosed in March, and spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mastering both film and theater, Rigg earned Emmy, Tony, British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and Evening Standard awards in her long tenure on the stage and screen.<\/p>\n

Despite her extensive stage experience, Rigg was perhaps best known for her star-making role in the television series \u201cThe Avengers\u201d starting in 1965. There\u2019s hardly a male baby boomer alive whose heart didn\u2019t beat faster at the sight of Emma Peel, her whip-smart, cat-suited character in the mod espionage romp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit frightening,\u201d Rigg, who was in her mid-20s in the swinging \u201960s, told The Post in 2018. \u201cBear in mind, it was 50 years ago. I didn\u2019t know quite what to do with that degree of lust. I\u2019d been in London to drama school and I was [by] no means naive. But to be given that degree of notoriety was a bit of a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most recently, Rigg played fan favorite Olenna Tyrell on HBO\u2019s \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d from 2013 to 2015. The character went down in \u201cGoT\u201d history after she admitted to murdering King Joffrey just before being killed herself. She was\u00a0nominated four times\u00a0for the Guest Actress in a Drama Emmy for her work on the show.<\/p>\n

She also starred on Broadway in \u201cAbelard and Heloise\u201d in 1971. (Her nude scene in the play and critic John Simon\u2019s bitchy assessment of her body generated boatloads of publicity,\u00a0Variety reported.) She later headlined a revival of Moli\u00e8re\u2019s \u201cThe Misanthrope\u201d in 1975 and \u201cMedea\u201d in 1994. She earned a Tony nod each time for best actress in a play \u2014 and won for \u201cMedea.\u201d<\/p>\n

After shucking her \u201cAvengers\u201d catsuit in 1968, Rigg became a Bond girl \u2014 the only one who landed the spy and became Mrs. Bond, while clad in an ahead-of-its-time white jumpsuit. The film was 1969\u2019s \u201cOn Her Majesty\u2019s Secret Service,\u201d in which George Lazenby played 007 for his first and last time. Rigg didn\u2019t seem to have thought much of him.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cGeorge was untried, unschooled \u2026 he was a model, a male model,\u201d Rigg told The Post. \u201cI was brought on board to help him and to give him gravitas.\u201d Alas, she took that gravitas to the grave: Mrs. Bond was swiftly dispatched by the minions of arch villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.<\/p>\n

Rigg\u2019s other film credits include the Paddy Chayefsky satire \u201cThe Hospital\u201d (1971), Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cA Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream\u201d (1968), \u201cThe Assassination Bureau\u201d (1969), \u201cJulius Caesar\u201d with Charlton Heston (1970), \u201cA Little Night Music\u201d with Elizabeth Taylor (1977), \u201cThe Great Muppet Caper\u201d (1981), and Bruce Beresford\u2019s \u201cA Good Man in Africa\u201d opposite Sean Connery (1994).<\/p>\n

She also hosted PBS\u2019 \u201cMasterpiece Mystery\u201d from 1989 to 2004.<\/p>\n

Rigg is survived by a daughter she had with her ex-husband, theater producer Archibald Stirling, actress Rachael Stirling.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n