Before Joan Crawford eclipsed one and all as my favorite star of all times, Diana Rigg had left an indelible impression on my being.  I'd grown up watching reruns of "The Avengers" and, frankly, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel was the Alpha and Omega to me at age eleven.  Emma Peel was the first strong female role model television ever offered and on that scale, has never been bested.  She could match men in brains and combat without sacrificing her cool or femininity.  She was mod and sophisticated and alluring in a leather or lycra cat suit, plus arch and --- well, at the time, my ideal.  There was that aristocratic nose, the 60's eyeliner, the high cheekbones and creamy skin, the auburn hair and lithe, almost boyish body that nevertheless wore clothes like a model.  She was haughtily dignified and yet had a touch of kinkiness in her black leather catsuits or "Emma-peelers" with holes and ropes and chains, plus she was good at everything from nuclear physics to sewing to jujitsu.  Loved when she got mad and snarled at a man, her vocalizations strong, since Rigg was primarily a Shakespearean stage actress.  Her allure was as intoxicating and subtle as a fine wine, her repartee and relationship with debonair partner John Steed understated and delectable like Nick and Nora Charles in "The Thin Man" --only better.  Unfortunately, she never equaled her role as Mrs. Emma Peel and I've found her film work curiously dull and unmoving, with perhaps a few tepid exceptions.  So her appeal (excuse the pun) did not extend outside of her iconic role as Emma Peel.  When I got into Joan Crawford, Rigg was supplanted on the throne, because Crawford is fascinating and supplied glamour, mystique and a strong female role model that quite blows everyone else out of the water.  The more I delve into her, the more she grows in estimate. 

But to compare my two divine feminist icons...

Originally I appreciated Crawford in the mindless way I did Bette Davis without putting either actress on my list of favorites – they were both compellingly enjoyable firecrackers.  Primarily I knew their latter day work (which is the work most frequently broadcast).  Of course, when Mommie Dearest came out and caused a scandal, I did page through it.  Joan Crawford was the only one I felt sorry for, a sentiment I still hold strongly today, striking me as an incredibly vulnerable person who had been battered badly by life yet was trying hard to find love. The abuse she suffered shocked me.  In any case, "They All Kissed the Bride" is the film that shed new light on her, because she was so beautiful in it with a glamour that knocked my socks off and a persona quite unlike her steelier stereotype (which I've come to reevaluate).  Although I'd seen her as a young beauty in films like "Grand Hotel" and "Rain," it had been so long ago that I'd forgotten.  Curious, I sought out more of her work and shortly fell head-over-heels in love.  Then I read every single book on her I could find.  The woman simply does not disappoint me, as I’ve underscored in my other essay.  With all the odds stacked against her -- a childhood of immense abuse and overwork and neglect, she succeeded -- going at it alone and rising like a phoenix from the ashes again and again.  Even on film her vitality is stunning.  Without having much education, she proved smart and savvy.  She exudes an interesting mix of things including a fey, wistful, sad yet romantic spirit.  Seeing her in the full glory of beauty, charm and vivacity in her youth made me recognize those qualities in the older woman when she had moved into hard-boiled roles.  I understand and empathize with her struggle.   Amazingly, she is the first star whose entire canon of work is watchable, even the bad films, because her presence redeems them.  I think of her as a great artist whose likes we will never see again.  Joan, I love you!

What do these great dames have in common?  1.  Great bone structure -- sculptured, almost aristocratic faces.  2.  The ability to wear clothes like a model with Joan having the better body -- she was a dancer and more curvaceous than Diana, but both look sensational in clothes.  3.  Working class backgrounds -- Joan's being an unloving, ultra-abusive one; Diana's being simply difficult.  4.  An angularity about their faces (although also delicacy) and broad, though feminine shoulders.  5.  They are strong women who are often the equal of men without sacrificing their femininity.  6.  Neither are huge-breasted with Joan having more than Diana, but they're no less sexy for it.  7.  They exude sophistication in spite of their "peasant" backgrounds.  8.  Distinctive deep voices.  Actually Crawford's voice in her youth was more high, chirpy and girlish, although she kept it in the husky lower register as she moved into film noir; that pleasant deep voice assured her transition to sound film.  8.  Both smoke.  9.  Rigg is tall, Crawford is small, yet both move with confidence and grace.  10.  Both have a powerful presence onscreen and a crackling vitality. 

Crawford is hard to touch, the more I get to know her.  Watching her move, the way she holds her body, even the way she puts on her shoes is a treat.  She embodied the Hollywood glamour fantasy through and through like no other.  Sadly stars are extinct, but even when Hollywood manufactured them, no one came close to her.  Rigg is definitely a child of the sixties with a swinging sixties attitude but yet a fascinating womanly maturity even in her youth.  Both women embody my idea of the Perfect Woman and hit all my spots in a very good way. – D. Nowak