Diana Rigg

1938 July 20th
Doncaster, England
Actor

Diana’s demeanor in real life was most unlike Cordelia’s, and her vocabulary was racy and rich. — her understudy, Margaret Drabble

I couldn’t help noticing that you weren’t wearing a brassiere. — Laurence Olivier at the first run-through of Macbeth

[Macbeth] is a very difficult play. First of all, I've actually never seen a production that works totally, because of the witches and the drama of it all, and I discovered that Lady Macbeth is a great bore, to do, actually. And at one point, the director had Denis Quilley sliding his hand down the front of my bodice, and massaging a breast, and — it was a matinée, it must have been — and I muttered to him under my breath, 'down a bit, left a bit, right a bit'. Golden shot!

Laurence Olivier told me that Lady Macbeth's secret lies in her lack of imagination. Only ambition, not imagination. And I totally understood what he was saying and why I was struggling and having difficulties.

Associated Plays:

Character Arcs

Sorted

Folios

Mountains and rivers along þe Kiso Road, by Utagawa Hiroshige

Interpretations

Reading Lens

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