Career: In 1959, Rigg signed a five-year contract with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her move to TV came in 1965 when she was offered the role of Emma Peel in The Avengers, but the demand for interviews and photographs proved too much, forcing her to quit in 1967. She went on to star in various movies, including On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Julius Caesar and The Great Muppet Caper, but by the 1980s her screen success was fading. However, she returned to form in 1989 in the award-winning miniseries Mother Love, and has appeared continually on stage, film and TV ever since. In 2013, she made a memorable Doctor Who villain alongside Matt Smith and her real-life daughter Rachael Stirling, and has a regular role in the acclaimed Game of Thrones.

Career: Mason remained in the theatre until he began securing minor roles in films. He became popular in the 1940s for playing brooding anti-heroes in a number of Gainsborough melodramas, including The Man in Grey (1943) and The Wicked Lady (1945). His big break came when he landed the lead role in box-office smash The Seventh Veil (1945). This opened the door to Hollywood and he went on to star in a number of popular films, including Julius Caesar (1953), The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951), A Star is Born (1954), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), North by Northwest (1959), Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959), Lolita (1962), and Georgy Girl (1966). His role in The Verdict (1982) earned him his third and final Academy Award nomination - the other two were for Georgy Girl and A Star is Born. He died on July 27, 1984, in Switzerland, a country he had called home since 1963.

Career: Smith rose to prominence on stage during the 1950s thanks to regular West End roles. Her first film, 1956's Child in the House, didn't set the box office alight, but she eventually gained international acclaim thanks to her role in Othello nine years later. She won an Oscar for 1969's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and has since appeared in such acclaimed productions as California Suite (for which she picked up another Academy Award), A Room with a View, and Gosford Park. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 1990. More recently, Smith gained a new fan base thanks to her role as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies, appeared in the films Ladies in Lavender and Keeping Mum, and TV series Downton Abbey. She has also battled breast cancer.