One Tough Dame

October 7, 2024
Biographer Pilato (Connery, Sean Connery) presents an admiring portrait of Diana Rigg (1938–2020), the actor best known for her portrayal of secret agent Emma Peel in the 1960s British TV series The Avengers. He begins with Rigg’s childhood in 1940s India, where a predilection for the dramatic (“She was always a bit of a ham,” Pilato writes) led her to the theater world. She began as an understudy at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and later made waves on The Avengers, gaining fans with her “adventure-girl allure” and “husky” voice. The show also made her a sex symbol, a “shocking” and sometimes unwelcome experience for an actor who still thought of herself as a “shy little Yorkshire girl.” Pilato makes much of Rigg’s impact on the male-dominated acting world of the 1960s, writing that she “dropp jaws with a blunt delivery of lines that blurred reality and performance” and openly pushed for equal pay (upon discovering that she was getting paid less than an Avengers cameraman, she spoke out, but failed to garner much sympathy from the press or the film industry). While Rigg’s independent spirit inspires, repetition and a heavy reliance on quotes (from friends and colleagues, reviews, and interviews with Riggs herself) makes for an often bland narrative that struggles to link granular details of Rigg’s acting roles to broader arguments about her legacy. This doesn’t quite come together.

October 18, 2024

Diana Rigg (1938-2020) is best known for playing Emma Peel on The Avengers, one of the first British series broadcast on American television in the 1960s. She became an era icon, but, like her character, there is much more than meets the eye. Pop culture writer (Connery, Sean Connery; The Bionic Book) and classic TV talk show host Pilato presents a comprehensive and nuanced portrait of Rigg, who was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994. Rigg starred in numerous films (including Theatre of Blood as Vincent Price's devoted daughter and On Her Majesty's Secret Service as James Bond's ill-fated wife). She also starred in TV shows (audiences will recognize her as Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones), but she considered the theater her home and appeared on stage in everything from Shakespeare to Broadway musicals throughout her career. This is a well-researched biography, drawing on a trove of interviews and press to illuminate Rigg's career, which often received less critical attention than her contemporaries. Pilato succeeds in allowing Rigg's flinty but charming personality and saucy sense of humor to sparkle on the page. VERDICT An enjoyable account of Diana Rigg's accomplished career.--Claire Sewell

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