Diana Rigg

Birthday: 20 July 1938, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, UK

Birth Name: Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg

Height: 174 cm

British actress Dame Diana Rigg was born on July 20, 1938 in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. She has had an extensive career in film and theatre, including playing the title role in "Medea", both in London and New York, for which she won the 1994 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.Rigg made her professional stage debut in 1957 in the Caucasian Chalk Circle, and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1959. She made her Broadway debut in the 1971 production of "Abelard & Heloise". Her film roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968); Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper (1981); and Arlene Marshall in Evil Under the Sun (1982). She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC miniseries Mother Love (1989), and an Emmy Award for her role as Mrs. Danvers in the adaptation of Rebecca (1997). In 2013, she appeared with her daughter Rachael Stirling on the BBC series Doctor Who (2005) in an episode titled "The Crimson Horror" and plays Olenna Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011).From 1965 to 1968, Rigg appeared on the British television series The Avengers (1961) playing the secret agent Mrs. Emma Peel. She became a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), playing Tracy Bond, James Bond's only wife, opposite George Lazenby. In 1988, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) at the Queen's New Years Honours for her services to drama. In June 1994, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to drama. Show less «

The leather catsuit I wore in The Avengers (1961) was a total nightmare; it took a good 45 minutes t...Show more »

The leather catsuit I wore in The Avengers (1961) was a total nightmare; it took a good 45 minutes to get unzipped to go to the loo. It was like struggling in and out of a wet-suit. Once I got into the jersey catsuits, they were very easy to wear but you had to watch for baggy knees; there is nothing worse. I got a lot of very odd fan mail while I was in that show, but my mum used to enjoy replying to it. Some of the men who wrote to me must have been a bit startled because she would offer really motherly advice. I would get a letter from a teenage boy, say, who was overexcited and my mother would write back saying: "My daughter is far too old for you and what you really need is a good run around the block.". Show less «

If I meet a woman who is immaculately groomed, I really admire her discipline. I grew up admiring ou...Show more »

If I meet a woman who is immaculately groomed, I really admire her discipline. I grew up admiring out-of-this-world screen goddesses, such as Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth, but I have to acknowledge that I haven't the patience for getting dressed up very often - at my age you think: "Why bother?". Now that I'm older, I don't go to premieres or first-night parties, not even my own. Show less «

I had an eye job in my early forties. Someone took a photograph of me in a play, after I'd lost a lo...Show more »

I had an eye job in my early forties. Someone took a photograph of me in a play, after I'd lost a lot of weight, and I did look like Miss Havisham. I thought, "I have to do something - I'm too young to look like this." So I went and had an eyelift once the play was finished, and the doctor said that it would last only about eight years. I imagined after that it would all cave in with a terrible groaning sound, like scaffolding, but it didn't, and I haven't had anything done since. I look at women who are my age who look absolutely ravishing and I know they have had something done. Well, why not? Show less «

I didn't like my Bond Girl outfits. The designer was a friend of the directors and I thought they we...Show more »

I didn't like my Bond Girl outfits. The designer was a friend of the directors and I thought they were too boring and middle-aged for my character. The right costumes are essential for getting into a part; I've witnessed many costume parades with grumpy or even weeping actors because they've been put into the wrong thing. Show less «

The older you get, I have to say, the funnier you find life. That's the only way to go. If you get s...Show more »

The older you get, I have to say, the funnier you find life. That's the only way to go. If you get serious about yourself as you get old, you are pathetic. Show less «

[on hitting middle age] I am devastated at what has happened. I have completely disappeared. I am to...Show more »

[on hitting middle age] I am devastated at what has happened. I have completely disappeared. I am totally invisible. I never really liked my sexy label but on the other hand, to disappear so totally is quite startling. Show less «

I don't know how your Guardian readers are going to take this, but I've had a housekeeper for 24 yea...Show more »

I don't know how your Guardian readers are going to take this, but I've had a housekeeper for 24 years [as of 2014]. So I'm well looked after. I'm a deeply spoiled woman. I make no apologies about it at all. I think they think: "Oh, poor woman, she's living on her own." Not a bit of it. My bed is turned down every night. Show less «

Look at me. I'm a dame and I'm a chancellor.

Society was so much more prudish in the 1960s. In one episode of The Avengers (1961), I played a bel...Show more »

Society was so much more prudish in the 1960s. In one episode of The Avengers (1961), I played a belly dancer and I had to stick a jewel in my navel because the Americans wouldn't tolerate them. In those days, you didn't flash the boobs at all. What you did do to look glamorous was jack the boobs up and probably wear something quite low-cut. Show less «

I think women of my age are still attractive. Men of my age aren't. They've got their cojones halfwa...Show more »

I think women of my age are still attractive. Men of my age aren't. They've got their cojones halfway to their knees. They have the same descent as boobs. Show less «

[on the possibility of remarriage in old age] I'm very good at living with somebody. I think my ex-h...Show more »

[on the possibility of remarriage in old age] I'm very good at living with somebody. I think my ex-husband would accede to this because I tend to please. I come from a generation where, when my dad arrived and parked the car, my mother rush upstairs and put some lipstick on, which I think is so charming. I'm wasted living by myself, in a sense. But don't anybody, please, take that as an invitation to step forward. Show less «

I don't want to retire. I never want to retire. What's the point of it?

I think I was quite daring. I was once escorted out of a restaurant because I was wearing a trouser ...Show more »

I think I was quite daring. I was once escorted out of a restaurant because I was wearing a trouser suit. It wasn't considered good breeding for a woman to go around in trousers after 6:00 pm, especially in smart restaurants and bars such as the Connaught Hotel, which served the best cocktails. Show less «

I don't go without make-up, though. I rather like that transformation in the morning from "I don't w...Show more »

I don't go without make-up, though. I rather like that transformation in the morning from "I don't want to look in the mirror"; then you start pulling yourself together. It's a rather nice present to yourself that you can still do that. Show less «

In those days, trousers were appallingly cut for women so I used to go to a gentlemen's tailor to ha...Show more »

In those days, trousers were appallingly cut for women so I used to go to a gentlemen's tailor to have them made. Nowadays you can look at some quite highly priced clothes and be astonished at how badly they are finished. But then, people don't look for that any more, it's only old bags like me that do. When I need to look smart, I go for Armani because he's just absolutely brilliant at tailoring. I always dress for myself, not men or other women. I'm well aware of them though - you get the sweep of the eye up and down and I think: "You poor thing, are you so competitive that you have to measure yourself against everyone else?". It's so pathetic. Show less «

Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg's FILMOGRAPHY

Diana Rigg'S roles

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