New Biography Shows Diana Rigg To Be Much More Than Her Character on ‘The Avengers,’ Emma Peel

The difficulties Rigg experienced wriggling out from under the shadow of ‘The Avengers’ are reflected in the Peel-based structure of the book, to wit: ‘Before,’ ‘During,’ ‘After,’ and ‘Forever After.’

Via University Press of Mississippi
Diana Rigg circa 1965. Via University Press of Mississippi

New Yorkers who have occasion to visit the Lower East Side — on the way to the Tenement Museum, perhaps, or Essex Street Market — may have noticed a towering mural on the corner of Allen and Broome streets. The painting is a silhouette of a sleek woman with high-heeled boots, a windblown coiffure, and what appears to be a gun. Just adjacent to the painting is the Emma Peel Room, an imbibery that a stray millennial tells me is “aight” in terms of atmosphere and libations.

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