Diana Rigg: Dame Commander of the British Empire

Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (July 20, 1938-), primarily a stage actor, has reached a much larger audience and exerted a far more demonstrable influence through the electronic wonders of pop culture.

Her global arc began in earnest in 1965 with The Avengers, in which she replaced Honor Blackman's Dr. Cathy Gale with the role of Mrs. Emma Peel. Blackman left the show to star alongside Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1963). Dr. Gale's fictional husband had apparently been killed in the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. In turn, Peel's husband had presumably died (mysteriously) in South America. An interesting setup, giving both lead female characters a flirty tension with John Steed, the Patrick Macnee character. The two women are essentially variations on the same type: striking in their looks, smart as whips, stylish dressers, and, when necessary, tough fighters (Hello: Angelina Jolie territory?).

Supposedly, the name Emma Peel is a wink at "M Appeal," i.e. "Man Appeal." Be that as it may, Diana Rigg became at least as important to the show's success as Macnee, but she was paid on a much lower scale -- less than some technical crew members. This fact was not lost on her, and she negotiated for more money, which was about as much as she could do at the time. She departed for more lucrative pastures in 1967. Ludicrously, it is explained that "Mr. Peel" had miraculously survived in South America, after all; "naturally," now that her husband was back, there was no more need to exercise her independence.

Wisely, Rigg used her popular success in The Avengers to launch a movie career, starring in the role of Tracy Di Vicenzo, alongside George Lazenby's James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), one of my favorite non-Sean Connery Bond films. In it, her character manages to woo Mr. Bond into marriage. Of course, given the parameters of the series, this could not stand, and so she's "offed" at the end, leaving 007 "free" to range around the world with his multiple passports and license to kill intact.

If Rigg is splendid as a "Bond Girl," she's equally good as Sonya Winter in the hip and satirical The Assassinaton Bureau (1969), alongside Oliver Reed and others. Then there's her role as Barbara Drummond in the darkly farcical film, The Hospital (1971), in which, among other things, she seduces the lead doctor character, played by George C. Scott.

In Theatre of Blood (1973), she is Edwina Lionheart, the loyal daughter of Edward Lionheart, played to the hilt by Vincent Price. This must have been great fun to make: together they fiendishly plot revenge against hostile theatre critics. Very campy, over the top and ghoulish at times, it's a clever movie.

After this offbeat triumph, Rigg did a great deal of stage work (obviously important to her) and also much TV work (bills must be paid). She was chosen to host the PBS Mystery! series in 1989, succeeding none other than Vincent Price. She was so effective in this majesterial role that she stayed on until 2003. She continues to act. She also compiled and annotated the witty No Turn Unstoned: The Worst Ever Theatrical Reviews (1991), a best-selling book highlighting terrible stage reviews and rivaling Theatre of Blood in effectively addressing nasty critics. Sometimes, the pen really is mightier than the sword.

During her arc, Rigg has been married twice. First she lived with Philip Saville, but he was already married, which can be tricky; she subsequently married an Israeli painter (1973-1976) and then a Scottish producer (1982-1990). She has a daughter, Rachel Stirling (1977-) from her second go round.

A salute to Dame Commander Diana Rigg! She's another one of those hip 60s actors I adored instantly as a kid. Some things never change!