Dame Diana Rigg has died, aged 82. The Yorkshire-born actress was best known for roles in The Avengers, Game of Thrones, and more recently All Creatures Great and Small.
Born just outside Doncaster, in 1938, she lived in India as a toddler, before returning to Yorkshire to attend boarding school.
Her career in acting started on stage, training at RADA and later joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
It was in the 60s that she took on her first television role, which was to become one of her most iconic, as Emma Peel, in The Avengers.
Her next role would see her become the only “Bond Girl” to marry 007, starring opposite George Lazenby in Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
However, despite the film and television roles, she still returned to the stage, picking up 2 Tony nominations and finally in 1994, picking up the award, for Medea.
In the 90s, she won a Bafta for Mother Love and more recently appeared in Doctor Who and Game of Thrones – the latter winning her an Emmy nomination.
“We’re sad to hear of the passing of Dame Diana Rigg, BAFTA-winner for her performance in Mother Love in 1990 and joint recipient of the BAFTA Television Special Award in 2000 for The Avengers,” said BAFTA.
She’s currently appearing in the new series of All Creatures Great and Small as Mrs Pumphrey.
Next year, she is set to appear in Last Night in Soho and Black Narcissus, which are both currently in post production.
Her agent said:
“She died peacefully early this morning. She was at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
