All Creatures Great and Small Featured Iconic Bond Girl's Final Role
After an illustrious career in acting that saw her take on some iconic roles, Dame Diana Rigg's final appearance on screen was playing Mrs Pumphrey in Channel 5's remake of the light-hearted drama All Creatures Great and Small.
Perhaps best known for playing spy Emma Peel in The Avengers between 1965 – 1968, the actress also played Bond girl, Teresa 'Tracy' di Vicenzo opposite George Lazenby in the 1969 movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The part saw her become the only Bond girl so far to marry the British spy.
As Emma Peel, she was something of a feminist icon and sex symbol as she frequently sported a leather catsuit and was a martial arts expert who could handle herself against pretty much anything the male-dominated world could throw at her. Uma Thurman played the role in the 1998 film version of The Avengers.
Modern audiences, though, may recognise Dame Diana more as Olenna Tyrell from HBOs Game of Thrones.
Diana passed away at the age of 82 in September 2020 – the same year that she was seen on screen as Mrs Pumphrey.
Having made her acting debut in the theatre at the age of 19, playing Natella Abashwili in the Caucasian Chalk Circle, Dame Diana spent most of her life acting and was a popular figure right across the creative world she worked in. She was still appearing on stage in her late 70s, with her last theatre performance being as Mrs Higgins in My Fair Lady in 2018.
While most of her theatre career saw her perform in London, she also appeared in other major acting venues across the UK, including Stratford-upon-Avon where William Shakespeare famously lived.
And her time on stage included plays in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand and a European tour as Cordelia in the Royal Shakespeare Company's King Lear.
And her film career spanned seven decades if you include her role as Ms Alexandra Collins in Last Night in Soho, which was released after her death.
Her TV career covered a similar length, from her first ever appearance on screen in 1961 in Ondine, in which she was credited as 'Bit Part' to her final appearance on All Creatures Great and Small in 2020.
Despite playing some pretty heavy roles throughout her career, Dame Diana never took herself too seriously and was happy to appear alongside Kermit and co in The Great Muppet Caper in 1981. She also played herself in an episode of Ricky Gervais' comedy Extras that also starred Daniel Radcliffe.