One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg

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.