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One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg
One Tough The Life and Career of Diana Rigg offers a sweeping portrait of the revered performer’s life and career. Deemed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, Diana Rigg (1938–2020) initially found fame as super sleuth Mrs. Emma Peel in the 1960s BBC/ABC-TV espionage series The Avengers. A classically trained and multi-award-winning thespian, Rigg is known for her diverse body of work — from her big-screen debut in 1969 as Countess Teresa di Vincenzo, wife of James Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, to her Tony Award–winning, leading role in Medea on Broadway, culminating with her Emmy-nominated portrayal as Lady Olenna Tyrell on the heralded small-screen gem Game of Thrones.
This eclectic volume traces Rigg’s career as a renowned star of television, film, and the stage. The author includes insights from rare, archived interviews, encompassing both video dialogues conducted by the University of Kent and Oxford Union. The meticulously curated archival material is further complemented by equally rare photos and retrospections drawn from diverse media sources and hitherto unpublished accounts from the people who knew Rigg best, affording readers an unprecedented, all-encompassing glimpse into her private world.
With exclusive commentary from Rupert Macnee (son of Riggs’s Avengers costar and dear friend Patrick Macnee); the show’s stunt coordinator/director Ray Austin; actors Samuel West, Bernie Kopell, Barbara Barrie, Juliet Mills, John Schuck, and Damon Evans; director Bruce Beresford; and documentarian David Naylor, among others, One Tough Dame delivers an in-depth perspective of a beloved, brave, brilliant, and trailblazing actor.
This eclectic volume traces Rigg’s career as a renowned star of television, film, and the stage. The author includes insights from rare, archived interviews, encompassing both video dialogues conducted by the University of Kent and Oxford Union. The meticulously curated archival material is further complemented by equally rare photos and retrospections drawn from diverse media sources and hitherto unpublished accounts from the people who knew Rigg best, affording readers an unprecedented, all-encompassing glimpse into her private world.
With exclusive commentary from Rupert Macnee (son of Riggs’s Avengers costar and dear friend Patrick Macnee); the show’s stunt coordinator/director Ray Austin; actors Samuel West, Bernie Kopell, Barbara Barrie, Juliet Mills, John Schuck, and Damon Evans; director Bruce Beresford; and documentarian David Naylor, among others, One Tough Dame delivers an in-depth perspective of a beloved, brave, brilliant, and trailblazing actor.
- GenresBiography
256 pages, Hardcover
Published September 4, 2024
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27 people want to read
About the author
Herbie J. Pilato
22 books13 followersHerbie J. Pilato is a TV host, writer, producer, performer, and entertainment executive who has worked on several television shows including Bravo’s hit five-part series, The 100 Greatest TV Characters, Bewitched: The E! True Hollywood Story (the seventh-highest rated True Hollywood Story in E!’s history), A&E’s Biography of Lee Majors, TLC’s Behind the Fame specials on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Hill Street Blues, and L.A. Law, among others. Herbie J has also served as a consulting producer and on-screen cultural commentator on various classic TV DVD documentaries for Sony, NBCUniversal, and Warner Bros., including The Six Million Dollar Man boxed set, Kung Fu, and CHiPs.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 11, 2024
Overall this was rather disappointing for me.
Being a private person, there's no "juicy gossip" about the life of Dame Diana Rigg. So, this book falls back on her extensive career; first in the theater, then on to television and the movies, and back and forth between these medium. The bulk of the text is transcribed snippets from published interviews and reviews/critiques of the Rigg's work over the decades. Not much time is spent "During" her time on The Avengers, which, I assume, may have been covered more extensively in other sources. It's really not much more than an expanded resume of Dame Diana's acting career.
Even so, I did find out about several plays, movies, and television that I can now look for.
One annoyance from reading this book was the repetition of phrases, sentences and paragraphs that were used previously in the pages of the book. Many of these were on facing pages and one instance, from the last chapter, was the same paragraph, word-for-word, on the same page (not five paragraphs later. (At first I thought it might be a cut-and-paste error, but the quoted material did fit in both places; the second should have been a rewording or paraphrasing of the initial instance.) Where was the editor?
Being a private person, there's no "juicy gossip" about the life of Dame Diana Rigg. So, this book falls back on her extensive career; first in the theater, then on to television and the movies, and back and forth between these medium. The bulk of the text is transcribed snippets from published interviews and reviews/critiques of the Rigg's work over the decades. Not much time is spent "During" her time on The Avengers, which, I assume, may have been covered more extensively in other sources. It's really not much more than an expanded resume of Dame Diana's acting career.
Even so, I did find out about several plays, movies, and television that I can now look for.
One annoyance from reading this book was the repetition of phrases, sentences and paragraphs that were used previously in the pages of the book. Many of these were on facing pages and one instance, from the last chapter, was the same paragraph, word-for-word, on the same page (not five paragraphs later. (At first I thought it might be a cut-and-paste error, but the quoted material did fit in both places; the second should have been a rewording or paraphrasing of the initial instance.) Where was the editor?
January 5, 2025
Firstly let me say I am a huge Diana Rigg fan, so I love anything and everything about her. This book has some wonderful moments about Diana Rigg, especially her latter days. The book has some great little stories and photos of Diana and is an interesting read.
What is disappointing is how repetitive it is in parts. This becomes frustrating as the same quote or sentence appears over and over. I also think the author became confused about which of her husbands he was referring to and wrote the wrong name a few times. The worst mistake though was the publication of fake photos of Diana. I cannot believe he got that wrong. The photos appear on page 172.
This is a short book, about 168 pages and as such anyone who knows little of Diana’s life will find it enthralling. The long term fan will find most of the information nothing new, but there is always something you may not have known. I so wanted to give this 5 stars, but the fake photos were a terrible mistake for me.
What is disappointing is how repetitive it is in parts. This becomes frustrating as the same quote or sentence appears over and over. I also think the author became confused about which of her husbands he was referring to and wrote the wrong name a few times. The worst mistake though was the publication of fake photos of Diana. I cannot believe he got that wrong. The photos appear on page 172.
This is a short book, about 168 pages and as such anyone who knows little of Diana’s life will find it enthralling. The long term fan will find most of the information nothing new, but there is always something you may not have known. I so wanted to give this 5 stars, but the fake photos were a terrible mistake for me.
March 13, 2025
For those of us of a certain age, there is a soft spot in our hearts for Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. There simply was no one like her on television or in the movies at that time: smart, funny, and absolutely unwilling to play second fiddle to anyone. It's been around 60 years since The Avengers was on TV, and it is a measure of its impact that there are still few precedents for this character.
That out of the way, this is a disappointing biography. The author speeds through this wonderful, creative life in under 170 pages, and much of it is "Diana Rigg did this, then she did this, then she did this." There was so much more to be told.
That out of the way, this is a disappointing biography. The author speeds through this wonderful, creative life in under 170 pages, and much of it is "Diana Rigg did this, then she did this, then she did this." There was so much more to be told.
November 27, 2024
I’d actually rate this 3.5. I adore Diana Rigg, and the book provided new insights into her life. However, the writing needs proofreading/editing. I’d read a paragraph , and then the next paragraph would essentially be a repeat of what I just read several times. I do own a copy of her book. I saw her in San Francisco in Love Letters in the 1990’s with Stacy Keach. They were fabulous! However, the production is not mentioned at all.
There is a great deal of interesting information for folks that only know her from Game of Thrones.
There is a great deal of interesting information for folks that only know her from Game of Thrones.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews