Diana Rigg

 Last week, Diana Rigg passed away and with her went another piece of my heart.

Like a lot of people ("people" in this case defined as "hormonally overcharged adolescents"), I discovered Rigg from her iconic turn as Emma Peel in the campy British spy series called "The Avengers". 

By the time I was old enough to be adolescentized to sufficiently overcharge my hormones, Diana Rigg was over a decade removed from her image making role. 

A lot was made of Emma Peel's body conforming cat suits but what truly made Emma Peel sexy was her attitude, sly, sometimes silly, always at the ready to kick butt. 

Diana Rigg as Emma Peel was sexy as hell but really just a cool person to hang out with. 

I can think of no better way to distill Diana Rigg's appeal as Emma Peel than this fan made video tribute to Emma Peel set to "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by the alternative rock band Cake. 

Diana Rigg as a loyal British person has put in her time with other icons of British culture. 

James Bond

Diana Rigg played Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, the only wife of James Bond, in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Game of Thrones

Diana Rigg was Olenna Tyrell, a role for which she received several Emmy nominations. 

Rigg said she had never watched Game of Thrones before or after her time on the show. 

And of course...

Doctor Who 

Diana Rigg guest starred in the Doctor Who episode "The Crimson Horror" (2013) with her daughter, Rachael Stirling.

As the wickedly perverse Mrs. Gillyflower, Diana Rigg had one of the best lines I've ever heard from a villain in anything. 

DOCTOR: Mrs Gillyflower, you have no idea what you are dealing with. In the wrong hands, that venom could wipe out all life on this planet.

(Mrs Gillyflower holds out her hands.)

GILLYFLOWER: Do you know what these are? Ha, ha! The wrong hands! 

Man, I loved that line!  Mark Gatiss wrote the part with Diana Rigg in mind.  

Diana Rigg was still working late in life. In February 2018, she returned to Broadway as Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady for which she received her fourth Tony nomination.  

Sadly, Diana Rigg had a notoriously bad smoking habit that began at age 18.  Rigg would smoke up to 20 cigarettes a day. She finally stopped in December 2017 after a near death experience during heart surgery. Rigg later said, "My heart had stopped ticking during the procedure, so I was up there and the good Lord must have said, 'Send the old bag down again, I'm not having her yet!'"

Diana Rigg was diagnosed with cancer in March of 2020 which claimed her life last week at the age of 82.  

It is sad to know that Diana Rigg is no longer with us. But looking over her biography, I am impressed that hers was a life well lived, not just for the wide range of roles in film, television and the stage but her approach to life in between roles. 

Diana Rigg was a patron of International Care & Relief a charity with a focus on long-term development in East Africa.

Diana Riggs 

She once said she had no desire "to be respectable". When it came to living her life, Diana Rigg was sly, sometimes silly, and always ready to kick butt.