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Portrait of Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg

(1938–2020) Television Actor United Kingdom

104 quotes in 378 categories

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Diana Rigg was a television actor from the United Kingdom, best known for No Turn Unstoned.

Quick Facts About Diana Rigg

Born: July 20, 1938
Died: September 10, 2020
Nationality: United Kingdom
Profession: Television Actor
Notable works: No Turn Unstoned
Spouse: Archie Stirling

About Diana Rigg

Born Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg, she played Emma Peel in the TV series The Avengers from 1965 to 1968, Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969, Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones between 2013 and 2017, and starred as Medea in the West End in 1993 before taking the role to Broadway a year later.

Awards & Honors

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire Commander of the Order of the British Empire Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress

Quotes by Diana Rigg · Page 2

Television has taught me an economy of style I didn't have before. I feel it has done me nothing but good.

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The opportunity to be bizarre - I am bizarre, aren't I? - is just so wonderful, isn't it?

Bizarre

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Mostly what you remember and enjoy are the scenes you played with people. And quite often, they're the combative scenes!

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There are those who have a knowledge and passion for the theatre, and those who don't.

Actor

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You hand the baton on, and that's why roles like 'Medea' resonate for years and years, as each new actor comes to…

Actor

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I was nourished and nurtured at Stratford as a very young actress. They guided me and forgave me!

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The older you get, I have to say, the funnier you find life. That's the only way to go.

Comedy

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I step into a character in my public life. People who don't make that distinction are dooooomed.

Character

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All these old images of me floating across the screen, the terrible chasm of what you were and what you are. I…

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I have no way of comparing myself to other people my age; I can't compare myself with Jane Fonda, can I? I…

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I have always thought of myself as rather a happy person. Apart from a few knocks along the way, I consider myself…

Happiness

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I get tetchy with myself when I forget. I also get tetchy when directors ask you for take after take after take…

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Many years ago, when I was working on Broadway, I used to go to a drug rehabilitation centre on Sundays. I didn't…

Broadway

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You can't actually legislate what goes on in people's minds and their attitudes, but you certainly can legislate for parity where pay…

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It may be a masculine attitude to take lovers, but it's definitely prevalent. I'm certainly not the oldest person doing it -…

Attitude

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The first time Rachie and I will be working together is on an episode of 'Doctor Who' specially written for us by…

Doctor

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It's particularly exhausting because Medea is defined by her determination. The role is all about endeavour.

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It tends to be overlooked that many people are indirectly affected by thoughtless and cruel journalism.

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I love women but am aware we're dangerous and deeply competitive, although I gave up being competitive long ago.

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It's a very powerful medium now, and should be celebrated as such, because we have the greatest television in the world.

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If you have a good inner life, you don't get lonely. I've got a good imagination. I don't miss romance.

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Maybe at this stage in my career, it's from that younger generation that I have most to learn.

Education

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There were no prototypes for me - the telly was full of little blonde juveniles.

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Yes, well, you are quite camp, so I guess that he could see the point of you.

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In the old days, a star was someone up there - you know, Greta Garbo - but a telly star was somebody…

Approach

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If a man holds a door open for me or pulls back a chair so that this old bag can sit down,…

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If you're earning equal pay to a man, you get respect. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.

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I only know how to play bad mums because they're the best parts.

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I've always been on the side of fully emancipated women with independent minds.

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George Lazenby was ill-equipped. It's not for nothing that they didn't offer him any sequels.

Film

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There is a life after being at the pinnacle of your beauty. Plenty of life and fun.

Beauty

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I loved the idea of playing this naughty old bag, offering her own explanation. It's my idea of heaven.

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Critics have to sit through an awful lot of rubbish, and you feel really sorry for them. In fact, I've been in…

Actor

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If it were said that I didn't fulfil my potential as a mother and wife, I'd be heartbroken. But if it were…

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I confess I do a lot of the wrong things: I smoke, and I drink wine, and people might be horrified at…

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When I started, TV was regarded as something that wasn't as great as film or theatre or radio, but it has proved…

Film

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I think I'm a mousepad. I don't want to be a mousepad, but I'm a mousepad. I'm also a screen saver, thank…

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I've played the Greek classics; I've played the English classics. I promise you, I'm not complacent, because I hope to be playing…

Body

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I've been single forever, and, oh God, I love every minute of it. I don't wish to sound offensive, and it always…

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Most of the women in Greek tragedies have their fates predetermined. The gods dictate that such and such will happen to them,…

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Diana Rigg by topic