# Diana Rigg dies at 82 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264 "2020-09-10T14:23:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/21 "2020-09-10T17:41:28Z")
She was definitely memorable in Theatre of Blood! [![](https://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/R/14675-19246-2.jpg) ](https://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/R/14675-19246-2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/22 "2020-09-10T18:11:39Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > … and she, like, left it to do a movie. I’ve read that she left The Avengers because she made less than a cameraman. She was in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and married Bond. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/23 "2020-09-10T18:15:43Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > She was definitely memorable in Theatre of Blood! Diana Rigg as Jeff Lynne! 😃 [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ed/6c/a5/ed6ca5221a055a9de0fcb2c22db9ad7d.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ed/6c/a5/ed6ca5221a055a9de0fcb2c22db9ad7d.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/24 "2020-09-10T18:34:57Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I’ve read that she left The Avengers because she made less than a cameraman. She was in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and married Bond. Classic Avengers bit about the earlier avenger that also ran into Bond: John Steed wonders what Mrs. Gale is doing in Fort Knox [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Q-7SDjn5Q_k/hqdefault.jpg "John Steed wonders what Mrs. Gale is doing in Fort Knox. Th") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-7SDjn5Q_k) And yes, RIP Dame Rigg ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/25 "2020-09-10T18:36:29Z")
Agree on all points. She was the first brainy, competent, confident woman on TV. And it made her irresistibly sexy in my 14-year-old brain. It’s probably why I ended up dating and marrying that type of woman. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/26 "2020-09-10T18:54:35Z")
Yeah, I enjoyed her in ‘The Avengers’ as a kid, and I’ve heard guys around my age (or, maybe a liiiittle bit older) say she awakened certain…stirrings in them at a young age. This is the kind of news that makes one feel like time is going by way too fast. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/27 "2020-09-10T19:01:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > She was the first brainy, competent, confident woman on TV. And it made her irresistibly sexy in my 14-year-old brain. It’s probably why I ended up dating and marrying that type of woman. Lucky you. But she wasn’t quite the first. I’d give that honor to Julie Newmar as Rhoda in _My Living Doll_. She had all the attributes I gave to Mrs. Peel: Brains, beauty, excellence in multiple competences, and above all that attitude of absolute mastery of the world. Her only flaw was that she was a robot and was an outsider to the humanity she could never be a part of. Well, that, and that Brian Clemons wasn’t one of the writers. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/28 "2020-09-10T19:05:01Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > If you didn’t see her in the Avengers when it first aired then you can’t imagine how transcendentally wonderful she appeared. Mrs. Peel was above every other woman who had ever been on a television show. Brains, beauty, excellence in multiple competences, and above all that attitude of absolute mastery of the world that was equal to the superlative that was John Steed. Once seen, nobody could forget her. It was the role of a lifetime - everybody’s lifetime. This. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Damn. we just finished watching all the Diana Rigg episodes of _The Avengers_ a few weeks ago. I have that DVD, too. 😢 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/29 "2020-09-10T19:07:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’d give that honor to Julie Newmar as Rhoda in _My Living Doll_ . She also made a damn fine catwoman, mrooowwwr. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/30 "2020-09-10T19:10:19Z")
She was a clue on last night’s Jeopardy (a repeat of course). Sadly, no one knew the question: > [@](#): > > Diana Rigg’s character on this show got her name from the “man appeal” or “M. appeal” the producers wanted. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/31 "2020-09-10T19:31:12Z")
Yes, I know that, thank you. I was just being facetious. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/32 "2020-09-10T19:35:00Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Diana Rigg’s character on this show got her name from the “man appeal” or “M. appeal” the producers wanted. I didn’t know that. Very cool! So… Enquiring Minds (and this–at the time–teenaged girl) wanted to know: did she and John Steed ever Do It? I say they did. I was soooo unhappy when her presumed-lost-and-dead husband came back. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/33 "2020-09-10T19:45:29Z")
When _ **The New Avengers** _ debuted in the UK in January '77, it was accompanied by a commemorative fan magazine devoted to the series (all iterations). It contained a long interview with Patrick MacNee, in which he said he and Diana Rigg took the sex thing for granted. Steed and Emma never talked about it, but it was generally assumed they did indeed sleep together. In Emma’s final episode (“The Forget-Me-Knot”), we got a glimpse of her long-lost husband Peter, found alive in the jungle. He was only seen from the window of Steed’s apartment, but it was obvious the two men were identical. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/34 "2020-09-10T19:47:24Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So… Enquiring Minds (and this–at the time–teenaged girl) wanted to know: did she and John Steed ever Do It? I say they did. Apparently, the actors and series writer all had different takes on the question. From [the Wikpedia article on Emma Peel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Peel): > [@](#): > > Peel’s verbal interactions with Steed range from witty banter to thinly disguised innuendo. Regarding the constant question of whether they had a sexual relationship at any time, [Patrick Macnee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Macnee) thought the characters went to bed on a very regular basis (just not in view of the camera). However, Rigg thought they were most likely engaging in a enjoyable extended flirtation that ultimately went nowhere. Writer/producer [Brian Clemens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Clemens) said he wrote them with the idea that they had an affair before Emma’s first appearance in the series, and they certainly appear to already know each other very well when Emma is first introduced to the series. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/35 "2020-09-10T20:01:52Z")
This is the magazine I had. I bought two copies, one of which I sent to a fellow fan in Minneapolis. She was in Seventh Heaven when she opened the envelope. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/ab/f4/a2abf4f087271855cb4950275d4164fa.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/ab/f4/a2abf4f087271855cb4950275d4164fa.jpg) It was more than an interview; it was a long article written by MacNee himself. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/36 "2020-09-10T20:09:16Z")
Joanna Lumley who played Purdey in The New Avengers was also in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service along with Rigg. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/37 "2020-09-10T20:12:37Z")
Yep. She was one of Blofeld’s girls. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/38 "2020-09-10T20:55:12Z")
Bummer… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/39 "2020-09-10T20:56:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > So… Enquiring Minds (and this–at the time–teenaged girl) wanted to know: did she and John Steed ever Do It? I say they did. Oh, absolutely. They were both smiling too much whenever they saw one another. The M appeal/Emma Peel joke is sadly lost on Americans. We can get it, but it’s not visceral. She’d have to be named Sexa Peel for the pun to hit us every time we heard the name, and that’s too coarse to suit her character. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264/40 "2020-09-10T20:58:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > She’d have to be named Sexa Peel for the pun to hit us every time we heard the name, and that’s too coarse to suit her character. You mean subtle like Pussy Galore? 🤨 I’m so happy the consensus is that Steed and Mrs. Peel got it on. I’m going to get out my Emma Peel DVDs and watch with the eyes of the 18-year old of bygone days… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diana-rigg-dies-at-82/920264.md?page=3)