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Dame Diana received a special award last year at the Canneseries television festival
Actress Dame Diana Rigg, famous for roles including Emma Peel on the television series The Avengers and Olenna Tyrell on Game of Thrones, has died at the age of 82.
His daughter, actress Rachael Stirling, said she died of cancer after being diagnosed in March.
“He spent his final months reflecting with joy on his extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and deep pride in his profession,” he added.
Dame Diana also played the only woman to become Mrs. James Bond.
She played Tracy in the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Her most recent roles included the Duchess of Buccleuch in ITV’s Victoria and Mrs. Pumphrey in the new Channel 5 adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small.
Samuel West, who plays Siegfried on the show, said: “It really doesn’t make sense to think that she’s dead. In general, she lived like everyone’s hell.”
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Olenna Tyrell made her last appearance on Game of Thrones last year
Stirling said: “My beloved mom died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family. I will miss her beyond words.”
Sir Tom Stoppard paid tribute to her “luminous” talent, while fellow playwright Sir David Hare said the actress had a “dazzling turn of direction in middle age as a great classical actor.”
‘She swept everything in front of her’
He said: “When Emma Peel played Euripides’ Medea, Albee’s Martha and Brecht’s Mother Courage, she blew it all away.”
His four Tony Award nominations resulted in a victory for his fiery performance in the title role in the 1994 stage play Medea.
James Bond producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “Our love and our thoughts are with your family and friends in this sad time.” Sherlock writer and actor Mark Gatiss fondly remembers working with her, while Stephen Merchant remembers her in a scene from his Extras show.
Director Jonathan Kent added that her “combination of strength of personality, beauty, courage and sheer emotional power made her a great classical actress, one of an astonishing generation of British performing artists.”
He said: “Her dazzling wit and inimitable voice made her an unforgettable leading figure in British theater.”
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Patrick Macnee played John Steed and Rigg played Emma Peel in The Avengers [pictured in 1965]
Her agent Simon Beresford said she “died at home with her family, who have asked for privacy at this difficult time.”
He added: “Dame Diana was a force of nature who loved her work and her fellow actors.”
Last year, Dame Diana spoke of her joy at her role in Game of Thrones, telling the BBC: “I love to play bad [characters]. They are much more interesting than good.
“There are some actors who don’t like to play badly; they like to be liked. I love that I don’t like them. Olenna had the best lines.”
In 1990, Dame Diana won a Bafta TV Award for Best Actress for playing a difficult mother-in-law in Mother Love. She also won a special Bafta Award in 2000 for The Avengers, shared with other stars of the series, Honor Blackman, Joanna Lumley, and Linda Thorson.
Dame Diana was also nominated for nine primetime Emmy Awards, winning for her role as Mrs Danvers in Rebecca in 1997.
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