Diana Rigg

Born July 30 1938
Where: Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK

The actress will forever be associated with the role of Emma Peel, the leather-clad, high-kicking star of TV's The Avengers.

On the big screen, her highest profile appearance was as Contessa Teresa Di Vicenzo, the only Bond girl to marry 007 in the film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

More recently, she is better known for her title roles on stage - her portrayal of Medea won both Evening Standard and Tony drama awards.

The daughter of a railway engineer, the family moved to India when she was two months old and she lived there until she was eight (and learned Hindi).

Returning to Yorkshire, she attended Funlneck Girls School in Pudsey and an appearance in Goldilocks aged 13 inspired her interest in the stage.

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art she made her big screen debut in 1962 in the obscure comedy-thriller Our Man in the Caribbean.

Between roles she worked as a clerk, telephonist and even a fashion model.

She tried out for the role of Emma Peel in the Avengers on a whim in 1965, without ever having seen the TV series.

However, after a dozen episodes, she discovered that she was being paid less than the cameraman and held out for a pay rise.

In 1968, she impressed as Helena in the big screen A Midsummer Night's Dream and Portia in Julia Caesar.

However, it was the role of Traci Bond in the Alpine-set Bond outing On Her Majesty's Secret Service that raised her big screen profile.

(she was reported to have loathed co-star George Lazenby so much she ate garlic before kissing scenes with the Bond star).

In 1971, she played George C Scott's love interest in The Hospital and was Vincent Price's murderous partner in crime in Theatre of Blood.

Subsequent big screen outings included the Agatha Christie murder mystery Evil Under The Sun and The Great Muppet Caper.

In 1983, she published a collection of devastating theatre reviews - No Turn Unstoned - inspired by the savage notices she received for her nude performance in Abelard & Heloise in 1970.

She increasingly turned to TV and stage work, memorably appearing as the psychotically possessive Helena Vesey in TV's Mother Love.

The occasional foray into film included William Boyd's A Good Man in Africa and Michael Winner's abysmal Parting Shots.

In 1994, she was made a Dame of the British Empire for her contribution to theatre and film.

Her daughter Rachel Stirling is also an actress with appearances including TV's Tipping The Velvet and the movie Freeze Frame.

Recent work includes the role of grandmamma in the big screen version of the children's favourite Heidi.