Game of Thrones actor Dame Diana Rigg dies at 82; condolences pour in, iconic roles

Actress Dame Diana Rigg, best known for playing Emma Peel in cult TV series of the sixties The Avengers and most recently Olenna Tyrell in Game of Thrones, has died at the age of 82. The late actress has a long standing career in theatre and television and is the only lady to have played 'Mrs James Bond'.

"She died peacefully this morning. She was at home with her family who have asked for privacy at this difficult time," her agent said.

However, that didn't stop fans and colleagues from the showbiz fraternity from paying tributes to the icon. Her character Tracy Bond in the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service is still remembered for the dialogues, "Teresa was a Saint. I am known as Tracy."

It was not just the applause but Diana Rigg was no stranger to accolades either. The actor won Emmy award for her performance in Rebecca while she was nominated for an Emmy for Game of Thrones. In the 90s, the actor won a BAFTA for the TV series Mother Love. That's not it. Talk of nineties and she also picked up the Tony Award for playing the title role in Medea, after being nominated four times for each of her appearances on Broadway.

Diana Rigg won both critical appreciation and a nod from the audiences for her roles in Bleak House, the very recent Doctor Who and All Creatures Great and Small.

Coming April of 2021, the late actor will be seen in her probably penultimate appearance in Last Night in Soho. Not many TV and film stars today can boast of strong roots in theatre. But Diana Rigg, born in Yorkshire, England, trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, thereafter she associated with the likes of Royal Shakespeare Company and became a prominent fixture in the theatre world.

In one of her relatively recent interviews with BBC, the actor at length spoke about Game of Thrones, how she was offered the role and her being clueless about its influence on the world. The actor also added that she'd pick up a character like Olenna any day.

"I love playing bad characters. They are so much more interesting than good," she had said at the time. That explains the extraordinary intensity with which she approached each of her characters.

The late actress' co-stars from Game of Thrones and others from the fraternity remember her as unforgettable, feisty and 'powerful actress' with a commanding onscreen presence. Narcos actor Pedro Pascal called her the true queen of Westeros.

The official Instagram handle of James Bond franchise remembered the late actress as the one and only, their Tracy Bond from the On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Actor Mark Gatiss also fondly remembered the actor, with a throwback picture, as the one and only saying, "There will never be another."