Diana Rigg

Personal context

Summary

Diana Rigg was an English actor known for The Avengers, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Game of Thrones, and a long stage career that included Medea and My Fair Lady. Her screen work often featured intelligent, self-possessed women, though Rigg said Emma Peel’s later reputation as a feminist icon had surprised her. She publicly argued for equal pay, recalling that she had demanded a raise on The Avengers after learning that male crew members earned more than she did; she described feminism chiefly in terms of equal pay and respect and criticized anti-men rhetoric. No public statements on DEI, identity politics, or party campaigning are on record.