'The Avengers,' 'Game of Thrones' star Diana Rigg succumbs to cancer

MANILA, Philippines — Actress Dame Diana Rigg, famous for her role as Olenna Tyrell in the hit HBO TV series "Game of Thrones," has succumbed to cancer. 

She was 82. 

According to reports, the actress was diagnosed with cancer last March. 

Her daughter, actress Rachael Stirling, announced the news by writing: "My Beloved Ma died peacefully in her sleep early this morning, at home, surrounded by family. I will miss her beyond words."

"She spent her last months joyfully reflecting on her extraordinary life, full of love, laughter and a deep pride in her profession," she added.

The "Game of Thrones" official Twitter account paid tribute to the actress. 

"Be a dragon. The realm will always remember Diana Rigg," it wrote.

The series star Nikolaj Coster Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister, said the actress "always raised the bar with her incredible talent, intelligence and wit. An absolute joy and honour to work with."

Apart from "Game of Thrones," she also played as the only woman who became Mrs. James Bond.

'The Avengers'

The award-winning British actress, who won Emmy, Tony and Bafta awards during her lengthy career on both sides of the Atlantic, worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) after classical training at Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

But it was as the cat-suited Emma Peel to Patrick Macnee's bowler-hatted John Steed in the swashbuckling television spy series "The Avengers" that she became  household name.

Some saw the high-kicking action role as a symbol of women's new-found power at the height of the Swinging Sixties, winning her an international profile and a legion of admirers.

For Rigg it was a catapult to success, as she went on to become one of Britain's leading character actresses, many of them displaying the same intelligence and steel as Mrs Peel.

"Diana Rigg's combination of force of personality, beauty, courage and sheer emotional power, made her a great classical actress -- one of an astonishing generation of British stage performers," said theatre and opera director Jonathan Kent. 

"Her dazzling wit and that inimitable voice made her an unforgettable leading figure in British theatre."

'A smile for everyone' 

In an early role, she famously played James Bond's wife, Tracy, in the 1969 film starring George Lazenby, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".

Bond franchise producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli praised Rigg's performance as the one woman who got the fictional superspy to the altar.

"The legendary stage and screen actress... was much beloved by Bond fans for her memorable performance as Tracy di Vicenzo in 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', the only woman to have married James Bond," they said.

In the later stages of her career, Rigg won legions of younger fans and critical praise for her part as Olenna Tyrell in the hugely popular "Game of Thrones" series.

Other film roles included the 1994 comedy-drama "A Good Man in Africa", adapted from a William Boyd novel, and the 2017 biographical drama "Breathe", directed by Andy Serkis.

"For half her life Diana was the most beautiful woman in the room, but she was what used to be called a Trouper," said playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, who called her talent "luminous".

"She went to work with her sleeves rolled up and a smile for everyone," he added.

'Dazzling' 

Rigg will, though, be best remembered as one of Britain's theater greats.

She won the 1994 best actress Tony Award after playing the title role in the Greek tragedy "Medea" in both London and New York, and also claimed a best supporting actress Emmy for the 1997 miniseries "Rebecca".

Fellow veteran playwright David Hare said she had "a dazzling change of direction in middle age as a great classical actor". 

"She swept all before her," he added of several of her most prominent performances. — Reports from AFP/Joe Jackson