Biography
Diana Rigg
Diana Rigg was a successful actress of the early 19th Century. She used to act both in theaters as well as in movies. Some of her hit TV series and movies are The Avengers, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Game of Thrones.
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg |
| Date of Birth | 10th September 1938 |
| Birth Place | Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England |
| Father | Louis Rigg |
| Mother | Beryl Hilda Rigg |
| Profession | Actress |
| Partner(s) | Philip Saville Menachem Geffen (1973-1976) Archibald Stirling (1982-1990) |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in |
| Weight | 54 kg |
| Body Measurement | 34-35-37 |
| Hair Color | Blond |
| Eye Color | Hazel |
| Nationality | British |
| Ethnicity | English |
| Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
| Children(s) | 1 |
| Death | September 10, 2020 |
| Cause Of Death | Cancer |
Where was Diana Rigg born and raised?
Diana Rigg was born on 10th September of 1938. Her full name is Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg. Her nationality was English as she was born in the town of England called Doncaster in South Yorkshire. It was called West Riding of Yorkshire before. Her parents are Louis Rigg (father) and Beryl Hilda Rigg (mother). She lived in Rajasthan in India in her childhood as her father was a railway engineer and was working in Bikaner State Railway as a railway executive in India. Diana Rigg used to speak Hindi during those times.
Rigg transferred to England so she could attend the school there. She joined Fulneck Girls School located in Moravian near the market town called Pudsey. She used to hate attending that school as she felt a different environment than that in India but somehow she believed that it helped her more in building up her character. She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art so she could further train herself to be an actress. Diana Rigg trained for 3 years along with her other friends and future actresses Sian Philips and Glenda Jackson.
Theater Career
Her theater career started from the year 1959 and lasted until 1967. She debuted with the name Natasha Abashwilli in the play named The Caucasian Chalk Circle which was produced by RADA. It was premiered in 1957 during the York Festival. She was also able to achieve the roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1970, Diana Rigg made her first theatrical performances and Broadway debut in the play written by Ronald Millar in Abelard and Heloise. In the play, she and along with her co-star Keith Michell appeared nude. She earned the three nominations for Best Actress in a Play in a Tony Award. In 1975, she also earned the nominations for The Misanthrope.
Diana Rigg played the lead roles in the play called Jumpers where she portrayed the character of Dorothy Moore and in the play Night and Day where she portrayed the character, Ruth Carson. Her play Jumpers was premiered in National Theater in the year 1972 and the other play was premiered in Phoenix Theater in 1978.
Since the year 1982, she started appearing in Musical theater called Colette. The creator of the musical was Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones which was written. Rigg again played the lead character in the musical called Follies which was produced by West End in 1987. Again, in the year 1992, she played in the musical called Medea which was shown in Wyndham Theatre and Broadway Theatre in 1993 and 1994 respectively. For her role in the musical, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress.
Diana Rigg also played other series of musical as a lead role. In 1995 she played Mother Courage which was premiered in National theatre and in 1996 she appeared in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? as a lead role which was premiered in the Almeida Theatre.
Then in the year 2004, Diana Rigg appeared in the play called Suddenly Last Summer which was produced by Sheffield Theatre and written by Tennessee Williams. She again appeared in the successful drama called Honour which was shown in Wyndham’s Theatre in 2006. In the following year 2007, Rigg appeared in All About My Mother which was produced by Old Vic where she portrayed the character of Huma Rojo. Rigg again appeared in the play called The Cherry Orchard and Noel Coward’s Hay Fever in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Again in 2011, Diana Rigg portrayed the character of Mrs Higgins in the play called Pygmalion.
Later in early 2018, Diana Riggappeared in My Fair Lady as Mrs. Higgins in the Broadway theatre. For her role in the play, she received Tony nomination for the fourth time.
Movie Career
Diana Rigg started appearing in movies since the year 1965. She first appeared in the TV series called The Avengers where she portrayed the character of Emma Peel as a secret agent. She appeared in a total of 51 episodes in the series though she didn’t like the fact that she was seen as the sex symbol in the movie. In 2019, she expressed how she was treated by the producers and representing her as a sex symbol during an interview with The Guardian.
In the year 1969, Diana Rigg played in the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service where she became blond and portraying the character of Tracy Bond. In the year 1973, she starred in the American sitcom named Diana which lasted for a year. After that, Rigg started appearing in the movies like The Assassination Bureau released in 1969, Julius Caesar, The Hospital, Theatre of Blood, In This House of Brede and A Little Night Music in the year 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1977 respectively. Later on, she played the main role in Hedda Gabler and also in The Great Muppet Caper where she portrayed the character of Lady Holiday. Her role in the movie Evil Under the Sun was praised by the audiences.
She also played the secondary roles in the movie called King Lear which was released in 1983 and in Snow White as the Evil Queen in 1987. Rigg won her first BAFTA award for Best Television Actress for her role in the film Mother Love. She then appeared in the movie Zoya in 1995.
In 1997, Diana Rigg won her first Emmy award for her role in the movie Rebecca. She again appeared in the TV series called The Mrs Bradley Mysteries premiered in 2000. She also hosted in the TV series called Mystery! For more than 12 years.
Following years, Rigg appeared in the comedy series called Extras and also in The Painted Veil in 2006. She appeared in other TV series called Doctor Who and also in the HBO series called Game of Thrones. Her role in the Game of Thrones was loved by the audiences and was praised by the critics. For her performance, Diana Rigg was nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress in A Drama Series in 2013.
Personal Life
Rigg used to have affair and used to live with the married director Philip Saville who was also older than her. In 1973, she was committed to Menachem Geffen but they got separated in 1976. She again married to Archibald Stirling in 1982 and got separated in 1990 after his affair with another actress. Rigg had a daughter together with Stirling named Rachael Stirling. She also has a grandchild named Jack Garvey who was born in 2017.
On September 10, 2020, Diana Rigg left the earth due to cancer at the age of 82.
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