Should you find yourself in a spot of bother, don’t bother shouting, “Mrs. Peel, you are needed.”
Doing so will no longer beckon a totally up-for-it Girl Friday sporting a knowing attitude, fearless demeanor, and preternatural skill with a pistol, bow, or rapier (or bare hands). John Steed’s best partner (among many) is no longer resolving bizarre, curious, deadly matters afoot in the green and pleasant land.
It’s possible to list many actresses blessed with a bit more classic beauty than Diana Rigg. But few of them ever so good-naturedly made manifest the very concept of “the modern girl.” Yes, the character Emma Peel was a knockout in leather jumpsuits, but Rigg’s natural warmth, humor, and sheer impishness rendered her irresistible during her heyday. That role as Emma Peel in the 1960s British TV espionage series “The Avengers” established what you might call the International Woman of Mystery Next Door.
And speaking of swordplay, wordplay twixt John Steed and Emma Peel revealed a rapier wit ever ready for repartee with Steed, wherever he stood. She was his equal, rescuing him as often as he rescued her from the dangers of assignments with the “department,” “the Ministry,” or however else they secretly served at Her Majesty’s pleasure. In any scenario, you could find no fault in how Mrs. Peel comported herself.
Nothing wrong with Diana Rigg’s legs, either. In fact, considering the 5-star quality of some of her other attributes, one concludes that all those formfitting jumpsuits were the luckiest articles of clothing in England, circa 1966. And if we say nothing else definitive about Rigg’s ancillary role as a style-setter at the more eccentric end of Carnaby Street, we can say that she was not afraid of color.
“My Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep, early this morning at home, surrounded by family. She died of cancer diagnosed in March and spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession. I will miss her beyond words”
Most of Tumblr will know her best as Olenna Tyrell, the razor-tongued Queen of Thorns from “Game of Thrones”…
I remember her just as well as Tracy di Vincenzo in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, one of the two best Bond Girls - along with Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore - because they were played by actresses, not cheesecake models.
And I remember her even better from “The Avengers” - a series so famous that the MCU movie had to be renamed over here (”Marvel Avengers Assemble”) to avoid confusion.
As If you’d mistake mere costumed superheroes for Mrs Emma Peel…
I know Black Widow does her best, but…
…she’s not there yet.
Mrs Peel was playing “The Queen of Sin” to infiltrate the naughty Hellfire Club, and Diana Rigg designed her own costume. This episode wasn’t shown in 1966 America. I can’t imagine why not, because it was certainly a wake-up call for ten-year-old me…
She was a famed Shakespearean actress as well: here she is with Anthony Hopkins in “Macbeth” (The Queen of Thorns and Hannibal Lector - yes, quite.)
…and here with a quite astonishing cast - widdershins from centre rear it’s Sir John Gielgud, Robert Vaughan, Richard Johnson, Richard Chamberlain, Charlton Heston, Jason Robards and Jill Bennett - as Portia in “Julius Caesar”.
My local PBS just rebroadcast the 1997 Rebecca, and I noticed that a secondary WGBH station is playing it tonight (9/21/17) at 9 with 2AM repeats on the main WGBH; so check your local listings!
Anyway, I didn’t realize before all the little nods to Rebecca in the Inspector Lewis episode Life Born of Fire. The reappearance of Rebecca is probably because it stars Game of Thrones actors (Charles Dance, Diana Rigg) but of course, there is also Emilia Fox looking just like Girl Hathaway. (I am still mad that Laurence’s cousin Emilia Fox didn’t play Nell Hathaway in series 9. It would have been too perfect!) And Emilia Fox’s mom Joanna David also played the 2nd Mrs. de Winter in a previous version; Joanna David played Morse’s ex-fiancée Susan. So there’s already a lot of fun Morse-verse connections before even considering Life Born of Fire.
Life Born of Fire co-stars Rachael Sterling as Zoe Kenneth, who burns down the house just like Mrs. Danvers, who was played by Sterling’s mom, Diana Rigg. And just for fun, here is Robbie Lewis’ Charles Dance impression, rescuing Hathaway from the fire. =)
