Diana Rigg in Other Roles
 With all the ballyhoo about her role as Emma Peel, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Diana Rigg trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and was an accomplished Shakespearean actress before she took on The Avengers. The oversight is made easier because Rigg's most important and acclaimed roles have been on the stage. So, to emphasize that Dame Di has done something else besides appear as the karate-chopping Emma Peel, I've collected a small bunch of photos of her in other roles. Click on the thumbnails for full-sized shots. (Many thanks to Kim Metzger for providing this magazine photo of Diana Rigg.) Below: Diana Rigg in Brecht's Mother Courage, performed in London during the 1995/1996 season. Thanks go to Kim Metzger for identifying this publicity still.  Below: Two images from Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf performed during the 1996/1997 season in London and New York (images from The London Theatre Guide)   In 1980, Diana Rigg starred as Lady Holiday in The Great Muppet Caper. In the scene with Miss Piggy, it's hard to say who out-hams who! 
 In 1975, Rigg starred as Phillipa Talbot in Rumer Godden's classic In This House of Brede, the story of a successful businesswoman who leaves the material world behind to become a Benedictine nun. This Hallmark Hall of Fame television production, one of Rigg's finest performances, is rarely shown on television and is unavailable on video. (Images courtesy of Kim Metzger.) 
In 1973, Rigg co-starred in Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price. As Edwina Lionheart, daughter of Price's character, Edward Lionheart, Rigg spent most of the movie in male hippie drag. The movie belongs to Vincent Price, but Rigg does a credible job, with a particularly touching scene at the end as she and Price perform Cordelia's death scene from King Lear. Ian Hendry, from season one of The Avengers also starred in the movie (first screen shot image below).
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