Lois Maxwell, the actor who was the original and, for many, the definitive Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films, has died aged 80.
Canadian-born Maxwell, who played the flirtatious secretary in 14 movies, starting in 1962 with Dr No and ending with 1985's A View to a Kill, died in hospital in Fremantle, Western Australia. She had been suffering from cancer.
Despite uttering fewer than 200 words in total and spending just an hour on screen, Maxwell made the role an integral part of the series, so much that there was great consternation when it emerged that Moneypenny would not feature in last year's Casino Royale.
She was close friends with Roger Moore, whom she had met in 1944 when they were students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Yesterday he recalled her fondly. "In everything I did she was my lucky token," he said. "She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with. She was wonderful, absolutely perfect casting."
Maxwell's life was as adventurous as Moneypenny's was unchanging. Born Lois Hooker, she was brought up in Toronto and lied about her age to join the Canadian Army Show and tour Europe. After the truth was discovered she begged to enrol at Rada and was given a scholarship. At 20 she got a Hollywood contract and in 1948 won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Female Newcomer for That Hagen Girl.
