NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Dianna Rigg

Dame (Enid) Diana (Elizabeth) Rigg, DBE, (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Tracy Bond in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Image File history File links Diana4. ... Tracy Bond (born Teresa Draco, aka Countess Teresa di Vicenzo) is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel On Her Majestys Secret Service (OHMSS). ... On Her Majestys Secret Service is the sixth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the only one to star George Lazenby as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond, and the first and only film in which Bond settles on a single woman and marries her. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... Doncaster is a town in the English county of South Yorkshire, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. ... South Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region of England, in the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ... The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. ... For the James Bond film, see On Her Majestys Secret Service (film). ... An Emmy Award. ... This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie winners: 1979: Esther Rolle - Summer of My German Soldier 1980: Mare Winningham - Amber Waves 1981: Jane Alexander - Playing for Time 1982: Penny Fuller - The Elephant Man 1983: Jean Simmons - The Thorn Birds... Rebecca is a 1997, Emmy Award-winning TV film directed by Jim OBrien, based on a novel by the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play is awarded to the actress who was voted as the best actress in a play, whether a new production or a revival. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke while waiting between takes during location filming An actor or actress is a person who acts, or plays a role, in a dramatic production. ... The Avengers, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), appear on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. ... Tracy Bond (born Teresa Draco, aka Countess Teresa di Vicenzo) is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel On Her Majestys Secret Service (OHMSS). ... // Cannes Film Festival opens, but closes in support of a French general strike without awarding any prizes. ... Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... On Her Majestys Secret Service is the sixth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the only one to star George Lazenby as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond, and the first and only film in which Bond settles on a single woman and marries her. ...

Early life

Rigg was born in the South Yorkshire town of Doncaster ([1]) to Louis Rigg and Beryl Helliwell; her father was a railway engineer who had been born in Yorkshire. She lived in India between the ages of two and eight^[1] and then attended the Moravian school in Fulneck, near Pudsey. South Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber Government Office Region of England, in the United Kingdom. ... Doncaster is a town in the English county of South Yorkshire, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Fulneck school is a private, boarding school situated in the Fulneck Moravian Settlement in Pudsey in Leeds, England. ... Fulneck Moravian Settlement is a Moravian village near Pudsey in the city of Leeds, England. ... Pudsey is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, between Bradford and Leeds. ...

Career

Rigg is particularly known for her role in the British 1960s television series The Avengers, where she played the sexy secret agent Emma Peel. Her career in film, television and the theatre has been wide-ranging, including roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1959 and 1964. Her professional debut was in The Caucasian Chalk Circle in 1955, aged 17. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. ... The Avengers, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), appear on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. ... The Caucasian Chalk Circle is one of Bertolt Brechts most important plays and one of the most regularly performed German plays. ...

Rigg tried out for the role of Emma Peel on a whim, without ever having seen the programme. Although she was hugely successful in the role, she did not like the lack of privacy that television brought. She also did not like the way that she was treated by ABC Weekend TV; after a dozen episodes she discovered that she was being paid less than the cameraman. Associated British Corporation (otherwise known as ABC Television or ABC Weekend TV) was one of a number of commercial television companies set up in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to safeguard their business by getting involved in television which was taking away their cinema audiences. ...

For the second series she held out for a raise in pay (from GB£90 to GB£180 weekly), but there was still no question of her staying for a third year. Patrick Macnee, her co-star in the series, noted that Rigg had later told him that she considered Macnee and her driver to be her only friends on the set.^[2] After leaving The Avengers she appeared as the title character in the telemovie The Marquise, which was based on a play by Noel Coward. Image File history File links Emma-Peel_Avengers-Intro. ... Image File history File links Emma-Peel_Avengers-Intro. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom, the British Indian Ocean Territory[1] Inflation 2. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom, the British Indian Ocean Territory[1] Inflation 2. ... Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Noel Coward Sir Noel Peirce Coward (December 16, 1899 â€“ March 26, 1973) was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ...

She also returned to the stage, including playing two Tom Stoppard leads, Ruth Carson in Night and Day and Dorothy Moore in Jumpers. A nude scene with Keith Michell in Abelard and Heloise led to a notorious description of her as 'built like a brick mausoleum with insufficient flying buttresses', by the acerbic critic John Simon. Tom Stoppard in a 1985 documentary for the film Brazil Sir Tom Stoppard, OM, CBE (born TomÃ¡Å¡ Straussler on July 3, 1937) is an Academy Award winning British playwright. ... Night and Day was a 1978 play by Tom Stoppard. ... Keith Michell (born 1 December 1928) is an Australian actor. ... John Simon (born Ivan Simon on May 12, 1925, in Subotica, Serbia) is a Serbian-American author and literary, theater, and film critic. ...

In 1982, she appeared in a musical called Colette, based on the life of the French writer and created by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, but it closed during an American tour en route to Broadway. In 1986, she took a leading role in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies. The Fantasticks was the longest-running musical in history. ... Colette Colette [1] [2] was the pen name of the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (January 28, 1873 â€“ August 3, 1954). ... Tom Jones (born in 1928 in Texas) is lyricist of musical theatre, best known for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which has been running off-Broadway since 1960. ... Harvey Schmidt (born Texas, 1929) is a writer of musical theatre, best known for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which has been running off-Broadway since 1960. ... Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... // West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland . Along with New Yorks Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. ...

On the big screen she became a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), playing Tracy Bond, James Bond's only wife. The experience was not a happy one, due to a personality clash with Bond actor George Lazenby. She has often spoken candidly, but amusingly, about the clashes they had on set, and Lazenby himself is now philosophical about this period of his life. Rigg admitted to eating food with garlic just before her kissing scenes with Lazenby. Nevertheless, she received great reviews and is considered one of the best Bond girls. Her other films include The Assassination Bureau (1969), The Hospital (1971), Theatre of Blood (a Grand Guignol tongue-in-cheek movie in which she plays Vincent Price's daughter who helps him carry out his murderous plans which are set to the grimmest scenes in Shakespearean literature) (1973), and A Little Night Music (1977). Bond Girl Diana Rigg as Tracy di Vicenzo in On Her Majestys Secret Service. ... On Her Majestys Secret Service is the sixth film in the EON Productions James Bond series and the only one to star George Lazenby as British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond, and the first and only film in which Bond settles on a single woman and marries her. ... Tracy Bond (born Teresa Draco, aka Countess Teresa di Vicenzo) is a fictional character in the James Bond film and novel On Her Majestys Secret Service (OHMSS). ... Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... George Robert Lazenby (born September 5, 1939) is an Australian actor best known for portraying James Bond only once in the 1969 James Bond film, On Her Majestys Secret Service. ... The Assassination Bureau is a tongue-in-cheek film made in 1969 based on an unfinished book, by Jack London. ... The Hospital is a 1971 black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller and starring George C. Scott as Dr. Herbert Bock. ... DVD cover of Theatre of Blood Theatre of Blood was a 1973 horror film starring Vincent Price as vengeful actor Edward Lionheart and Diana Rigg as his daughter Edwina Lionheart. ... The Grand Guignol (Grahn Geen-YOL) was a theatre (Le ThÃ©Ã¢tre du Grand-Guignol) in the Pigalle area of Paris (at 20 bis, rue Chaptal), which, from its opening in 1897 to its closing in 1962, specialized in the most naturalistic grisly horror shows. ... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ... A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. ...

In the 1980s, after reading stinging reviews of a stage performance she had given, Rigg was inspired to compile the worst theatrical reviews she could find into a tongue-in-cheek (and best-selling) compilation, entitled No Turn Unstoned. In 1988, she played the Wicked Queen in the Cannon adaption of Snow White. In 1989, she played Helena Vesey in Mother Love for the BBC; her portrayal of an obsessive mother who was prepared to do anything, even murder, to keep control of her son won Diana the 1989 BAFTA for best actress. No Turn Unstoned is a collection of the worst theatrical reviews in history compiled by Diana Rigg, most famous as Mrs. ... Snow White is a 1987 film based on the classic fairytale and released as part of the Cannon Movie Tales series. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

In 1986 she presented the Scottish Television series Held in Trust, which focused on the work of the National Trust for Scotland and some of its most famous treasures. The correct title of this article is . ... The standard of the NTS The National Trust for Scotland, or NTS, describes itself as The conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotlands natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to enjoy. ...

In the 1990s she had triumphs with roles at the Almeida Theatre in Islington, including Medea in 1993 (for which she received the Best Actress Tony Award), Mother Courage in 1995 and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1996. On television she has appeared as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca and as the amateur detective Mrs. Bradley in The Mrs Bradley Mysteries. Founded in 1980, the Almeida Theatre has become one of the key theatres in London. ... Islington is an inner-city district in north London. ... Medea is a tragedy written by Euripides, based on the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BCE. Along with the plays Philoctetes, Dictys and Theristai, which were all entered as a group, it won the third prize at the Dionysia festival. ... Mother Courage (German Mutter Courage) is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel Lebensbeschreibung der ErtzbetrÃ¼gerin und LandstÃ¶rtzerin Courasche (The Runagate Courage) dating from around 1670. ... Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. ... Rebecca is a 1997, Emmy Award-winning TV film directed by Jim OBrien, based on a novel by the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. ... The Mrs. ...

In this series, first aired in 2000, she played Gladys Mitchell's detective, Dame Beatrice Adela Le Strange Bradley, an eccentric old woman who worked for Scotland Yard as a pathologist. Sadly, despite good central performances—particularly from Rigg herself, who would, to great comic effect, address the camera directly (sample dialogue, delivered direct to camera: "There are three golden rules to bringing up children... sadly no-one knows what they are...) the series was not a critical success and did not return for a second season. Gladys Mitchell (April 19, 1901 â€“ July 27, 1983) was an English author best known for her creation of Mrs. ... New Scotland Yard, London New Scotland Yard, it blowwsssss often referred to simply as Scotland Yard or The Yard, is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for policing Greater London (although not the City of London itself). ...

From 1989 until 2003 she hosted the PBS television series Mystery!, taking over from Vincent Price, her co-star from Theatre of Blood. Her TV career in America has been varied; most famously she starred in her own series Diana, but it was not successful. Not to be confused with Public Broadcasting Services in Malta. ... Mystery! (also written MYSTERY!) is a long-running television series in the USA, which airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH. The show has brought a large number of detective series and television movies - most of them British productions from the BBC or various ITV companies - to air on... Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ...

Rigg has continued to perform on stage in London, the latest play being a drama entitled Honour which had a limited but successful run in 2006.

Although she does not consider herself a singer, her performances in A Little Night Music, Follies and other stage musicals have been well received by audiences and critics alike. She made a highly memorable appearance with Morecambe and Wise in 1976, in which she played Nell Gwynne in a musical pastiche, joining Eric and Ernie to sing “How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been A Liar All My Life?”. A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. ... Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. ... Morecambe and Wise Morecambe and Wise were a famous British comic double act comprising Eric Morecambe OBE and Ernie Wise OBE. The act lasted four decades until Morecambes retirement, shortly before his death in 1984. ... Nell Gwyn (or Gwynn or Gwynne), was born Eleanor Gwynne, (February 1650 - 14 November 1687), the most famous of the many mistresses of King Charles II, was called pretty, witty Nell by Samuel Pepys. ... Eric and Ernie are the first names of legendary British comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, popular on UK Television during the 1960s and 1970s. ...

She also appeared in the second season of Ricky Gervais' hit comedy, Extras, alongside Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe. Ricky Gervais (IPA: or ) (born June 25, 1961) is an English comic writer and performer from Reading, Berkshire. ... Extras is a British television sitcom about extras working on film sets and in theatre. ... This article is about the Harry Potter series of novels. ... Daniel Jacob Radcliffe[1] (born 23 July 1989) is an English film, television and stage actor. ...

Private life

Philip Saville (sometimes credited as Philip Savile) (born 1929) is a British television director, active in the genre since the late 1950s. ... Archibald Hugh Stirling of Keir (more commonly known as Archie Stirling) is laird of the Keir estate in Perthshire. ... The Scots Guards are a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division, and have a long and proud history stretching back hundreds of years. ... Stirling as the vicars wife in the 2004 TV adaptation of Agatha Christies The Murder at the Vicarage Rachael Atalanta Stirling (born May 30, 1977 in London) is a British actress best known for her performance as Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet and also... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... The Avengers is a British 1960s television series featuring secret agents in a fantasy 1960s Britain. ... BBC Four is a BBC television channel available to digital TV (Freeview, satellite and UK. Contents // Categories: Stub | BBC television channels | British TV channels ... International Care & Relief is an International development charity, based in Tunbridge Wells, England. ... The University of Stirling is a campus university created in 1967, and located on the outskirts of Stirling in central Scotland. ...

References

External links

Categories: English film actors | English television actors | English stage actors | Royal Shakespeare Company members | Royal National Theatre Company members | BAFTA winners (people) | Actresses who played James Bond girls | Emmy Award winners | University of Stirling | People from South Yorkshire | People from Doncaster | Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire | English Anglicans | 1938 births | Living people Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDb) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... NNDB, ostensibly standing for Notable Names Database, produced by Soylent Communications, is an online database of biographical details of notable people. ... Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. ... Yahoo! Inc. ... TV.com is a website belonging to the CNET Games and Entertainment family of websites. ... Greta Scacchi (born February 18, 1960 in Milan, Italy) is an Emmy Award-winning film actress. ... Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: ) (22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1869 â€“ 29 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic with an influence in the later days of Russias Romanov dynasty. ... This is a list of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie winners: 1979: Esther Rolle - Summer of My German Soldier 1980: Mare Winningham - Amber Waves 1981: Jane Alexander - Playing for Time 1982: Penny Fuller - The Elephant Man 1983: Jean Simmons - The Thorn Birds... This is a list of film-related events in 1997. ... Rebecca is a 1997, Emmy Award-winning TV film directed by Jim OBrien, based on a novel by the same name by Daphne Du Maurier. ... Mary Megan Winningham (born May 16, 1959) is an American film and television actress. ... Governor George Wallace (in front of door) standing defiantly against desegregation while being confronted by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach at the University of Alabama in 1963. ...

Contents

Early life GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Career

Private life

References

External links

Early life