Diana Rigg was known to the young generation for playing the role of Olenna Tyrell in HBO's Game of Thrones. (Photo: HBO)English actor Diana Rigg has died at the age of 82. The cause of death was not revealed.
Rigg’s agent told BBC, “She died peacefully early this morning. She was at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
Diana Rigg, known to the young generation for playing the role of Olenna Tyrell in HBO’s Game of Thrones, rose to fame by playing Emma Peel in the 1960s British espionage TV series The Avengers.
Her work in the series got her the role of the main Bond girl Tracy di Vicenzo in the movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, opposite none other than Sean Connery. Her character was the first one to marry Connery’s fictional spy.
“We are very sad to hear of the passing of Dame Diana Rigg, the legendary stage and screen actress who was much beloved by Bond fans for her memorable performance as Tracy di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the only woman to have married James Bond.” pic.twitter.com/nqQCSg35oM
— James Bond (@007) September 10, 2020
Be a dragon.
The realm will always remember Diana Rigg.— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) September 10, 2020
As Olenna, the matriarch of House Tyrell, she won the love of Game of Thrones fans by embodying the sharp-tongued character with an acerbic wit that seemingly came naturally to her. Her performance won her fans who did not know the old Diana, the one who had married James Bond and played the catsuit-clad lithe spy in The Avengers.
Speaking about her young fans, Diana Rigg told Entertainment Weekly last year, “Obviously, it’s great that has happened, and great it was a young audience — terrific. That’s the nature of my profession. The young, I don’t expect them to know about my past, but if, through Game of Thrones, they discover me, that’s good.”