I fell in love with Diana Rigg on March 28, 1966. That’s when I watched the first episode of The Avengers broadcast on the ABC Network…and it was love at first sight!
“The show was sold to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1965, and The Avengers became one of the first British series to be aired on prime-time US television. The US ABC network paid the then-unheard-of sum of $2 million for the first 26 episodes. The average budget for each episode was reportedly £56,000, which was high for the British industry. The fourth series aired in the US from March to the beginning of September 1966.”
Diana Rigg is best known for her iconic role as secret agent Mrs. Emma Peel. But you might remember she also starred in a James Bond movie. Diana Rigg played Countess Teresa “Tracy” di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She remains the only woman to have officially married James Bond in the franchise’s history.
Diana Rigg also performed in The Royal Shakespeare Company and won an Emmy for her role of sharp-tongued matriarch Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s Game of Thrones (2013-2019).
Pilato’s biography includes wonderful photos of Diana Rigg and takes the reader from her early days to her death in 2020 at the age of 82. Are you a fan of Diana Rigg? GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreword by Rupert Macnee — xi
Introduction by Ray Austin — xiii
Preface — xix
PART ONE: BEFORE
Chapter 1: Rigged — 3
Chapter 2: First signs of royalty — 8
Chapter 3: Great expectations — 17
PART TWO: DURING
Chapter 4: Embracing Emma — 31
Chapter 5: Avenging angel — 36
Chapter 6: Defending Mrs. Peel — 43
PART THREE: AFTER
Chapter 7: From the Bureau to Bond — 63
Chapter 8: Hailing Caesar, the Hospital, and Blood — 75
Chapter 9: When Diana met Diana — 84
Chapter 10: Her craft, unstoned — 96
Chapter 11: A little night music with a three-piece suite, and more — 106
Chapter 12: The Bradley Bunch — 121
PART FOUR: FOREVER AFTER
Chapter 13: The queen of Thrones and Thornes — 141
Chapter 14: Final bows — 152
Chapter 15: Encore — 158
Appendix: Life and career highlights: a selective timeline — 173
Acknowledgments — 187
Notes — 189
Bibliography — 197
Index — 203