JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images(LONDON) — British actress Dame Diana Rigg, known for her powerful roles in Games of Thrones and the classic 1960s TV series The Avengers, has died. She was 82.
“She died peacefully early this morning. She was at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time” her agent said, according to the BBC.
Rigg’s role as the butt-kicking secret agent Emma Peel in The Avengers made her a feminist icon of the time, who more often than not wound up rescuing her male partner John Steed, played by the late Patrick MacNee. She starred on the show from 1965-68, earning two Emmy nominations. Rigg found renewed fame later in life when she took on the role of the sharp-tongued Lady Olenna Tyrell on HBO’s Game of Thrones. She was nominated for four Emmys for her portrayal.
During her long career on stage and screen, Rigg also portrayed Bond girl Tracy di Vicenzo opposite George Lazenby in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service — the only woman Bond ever married.
Rigg won a Tony in 1994 for playing the title role in Medea, and she was nominated three other times. She also snagged an Emmy in 1997 for her role as Mrs. Danvers in a PBS adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.
By Andrea Tuccillo
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