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RIGG, DAME DIANA
(1938– ). British actress.

SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND HORROR FILM CREDITS
Acted in: The Avengers (tv series) (1964-68); A Midsummer's Night Dream (1968); On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Peter Hunt 1969); Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox 1973); The Worst Witch (tv movie) (Robert Young 1986); Snow White (Michael Berz 1987); Mystery (tv series; host) (1989– ).
Here is a question for cocktail-party conversation: suppose you were casting a science fiction film, and you could go back in time to choose any science fiction film actress in her prime as your heroine; who would you choose? Some might simply want a beautiful woman, and there are plenty of those available, ranging from Fay WRAY to Traci Lords; others who want a woman with a bit more refinement or intelligence might consider Joan COLLINS or Lee MERIWETHER; while those who like their heroines tough and ballsy might argue for Beverly GARLAND or Sigourney WEAVER. Personally, I would choose all of the above traits, set my time machine for the 1960s, and go back and pick up Diana Rigg.

In the episodes of The Avengers that she starred in as Mrs. Emma Peel, Rigg was consistently a wonder to behold. She was aware of and secretly amused by her sex appeal, which she could turn on and off in an instant if necessary. Always intelligent and alert to her surroundings, she could perfectly adapt to any situation, whether it was carrying on clever repartée with members of the Royal Family at a reception, extracting information from a drunken lout in a seedy bar, or surreptitiously trying to steal important documents from a scientist's laboratory. And she could defend herself against any adversary—from a common mugger to a malevolent robot—with a few well-placed karate chops. While some may lament how that once-serious spy drama gradually descended into science-fictional silliness (as is especially evident in the episodes specifically produced for American audiences), co-star Patrick MACNEE and Rigg always managed to maintain their aplomb and treated each new menace with exactly the seriousness it deserved, so that even scenarios seemingly stolen from rejected Doctor Who episodes made for watchable entertainment. Of course, much of the program's appeal derived equally from Macnee's performance as the suave and unflappable John Steed, but he was never better than when paired with Rigg; it is hard to remember or care about the women who preceded and followed her in various incarnations of the series. As for Uma Thurman's embarrassingly disastrous take on Emma Peel for the recent film version of The Avengers (1998), any additional criticism from this corner would be superfluous; clearly, doing Diana Rigg is harder than it looks.

As is often the case when a performer abandons a perfect role, Rigg's career after she left The Avengers seems disorganized and unsatisfying. To prove her credentials as a Serious Actress, she appeared in film versions of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Julius Caesar—rather a waste of her talents, really, but this is the sort of thing that actors often feel compelled to do. She unfortunately encountered the James Bond films just at the moment when George Lazenby replaced Sir Sean CONNERY and, with a department-store mannequin as its centerpiece, not even Rigg could make On Her Majesty's Secret Service involving. She was well employed in Theatre of Blood, helping her father Vincent PRICE murder the critics with demure efficiency; and she later proved a serviceable villainess as a witch in The Worst Witch and as the Wicked Queen in a film version of Snow White. She crossed paths with Price again when she replaced him as the host of Mystery, the American series that shows episodes from British television, introducing each adventure with her usual grace and competence. Battling mad scientists, playing Shakespeare, apprencticing under and filling the shoes of the great Vincent Price—Diana Rigg can handle the tough assignments.

There is one remaining question: if Rigg was indeed the perfect science fiction film heroine, why did she appear in so few science fiction films? Part of the answer may lie in Rigg's own career choices, as she has seemed more interested in living down her role as Mrs. Peel than in building upon it. But a sadder explanation would be the persistent sexism of a genre that, with a few spectacular exceptions (like Weaver in the Alien films), continues to prefer letting the men do all the work and keeping its heroines helpless or unassertive. (Imagine, for example, how much better Logan's Run [1976] would have been if Rigg had been cast in Michael YORK's part.) It is significant that the producers of the James Bond films toned down her character, and that American television, challenged to devise an appropriate vehicle for her talents, implausibly chose a Mary Tyler Moore-ish sitcom, where she floundered for one unsuccessful season. There is, then, one part that Diana Rigg does not play well: the domesticated animal.

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