RIP Dame Diana Rigg

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Lady Olenna has passed on

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The actor Diana Rigg, known for her roles on stage and in film and television –including the The Avengers and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – has died at the age of 82.

Rigg, who rose to prominence in the 1960s thanks to her starring role as Emma Peel in The Avengers alongside Patrick Macnee, enjoyed a long and varied career, playing Lady Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s smash hit Game of Thrones, a show she admitted in 2019 that she had never watched. She also played Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, or Tracy Bond, James Bond’s first and only wife to date, in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Confirming her death, her agent said that Rigg had died “peacefully” on Thursday morning, adding that she had been “at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time”.

Her daughter, the actor Rachael Stirling, said Rigg had been diagnosed with cancer in March, and had “spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words.”