Lois Maxwell
Encyclopedia
Lois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.
Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year
for her performance in That Hagen Girl
(1947). Following a number of small film roles, Maxwell grew dissatisfied and travelled to Italy where she worked in films from 1951 until 1955, and following her marriage, she moved to the United Kingdom where she appeared in several television productions.
She originated the role of Miss Moneypenny
in the James Bond franchise, playing the character in fourteen films, from Dr. No
(1962) until her final performance of the character in A View to a Kill
(1985).
As Maxwell's career declined, she lived in Canada
, Switzerland
and England
, until she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2001. She moved to Perth, Western Australia
where she lived with her son until her death in 2007, at the age of eighty.
to parents who were a nurse and a teacher. She grew up in Toronto and attended Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. Dissatisfied with the yields of baby sitting jobs, Lois set her sights on something more lucrative and landed her first job working as a waitress at Canada's largest and most luxurious summer resort, Bigwin Inn, on Bigwin Island in Lake of Bays, Ontario, Canada. She ran away from home at the age of fifteen to join the Canadian Women's Army Corps during World War II, a unit formed to release men for combat duties. CWAC personnel were secretaries, vehicle drivers and mechanics, and performed all conceivable non-combat duties. Maxwell quickly became part of the Army Show in Canada, and later as part of the Canadian Auxiliary Services Entertainment Unit she was posted to the United Kingdom, performing music and dance numbers to entertain the troops, often appearing with Canadian comedians Wayne and Shuster. The truth about her age was discovered when the group reached London, and in order to avoid repatriation to Canada she was discharged and then enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
where she became friends with fellow student Roger Moore
.
for her role in the Shirley Temple
comedy That Hagen Girl
, and she participated in a 1949 Life Magazine photo layout in which she posed with another up-and-coming actress named Marilyn Monroe
. It was at this time that she changed her surname to Maxwell, a name she borrowed from a ballet dancer friend. The rest of her family also adopted the name Maxwell.
Most of her work was minor roles in B movie
s. Having tired of Hollywood, she moved back to Europe, living in Rome
for five years from 1950 to 1955. There she made a series of films, and at one point became an amateur racing driver. One of her Italian films was a 1953 adaptation of the opera
Aida
in which Maxwell played a leading role, lip-synching to another woman's opera vocals and appearing in several scenes with a pre-stardom Sophia Loren
, who also performed to another person's singing. While on a trip to Paris, she met her future husband, television executive Peter Marriott; they were married in 1957 and moved to live in London
. Their daughter Melinda (born 1958) and son Christian (born 1959) were both born in London. Marriott, a former commander of the Viceroy of India's household troops, had himself been screen-tested by Cubby Broccoli as a potential James Bond.
During the 1960s, she appeared in many other television series
and movies both in Britain and Canada, and was the star of Adventures in Rainbow Country
later that decade. She guest starred in episodes of The Saint
and The Persuaders!
which both starred Roger Moore
. Maxwell also had a secondary role in Stanley Kubrick
's Lolita
. She provided the voice of Atlanta for the science fiction children's series Stingray
in 1963. In 1965, Maxwell made a guest appearance in the "Something for a Rainy Day" episode of the ITC
series The Baron
, playing an insurance investigator. She also portrayed Moneypenny in a 1967 made-for-television special (produced by EON Productions) titled Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond.
, but she was uncomfortable with a revealing scene in the screenplay. The role as M
's secretary guaranteed just two days' work at ₤100 a day; Maxwell supplied her own clothes. The Trench character, however, was eliminated after From Russia With Love
.
In 1967, Maxwell angered Sean Connery
for a time by appearing in the Italian spy spoof Operation Kid Brother with the star's brother Neil Connery
and Bernard Lee
. In 1971, Maxwell was nearly replaced for Diamonds Are Forever
after demanding a pay rise; her policewoman's cap disguises hair she had already dyed for another role. However she continued in the role, as her former classmate Roger Moore took over the part of 007. In 1975, she played Moneypenny weeping for the death of James Bond in a short scene with Bernard Lee
as M
in the French comedy Bons baisers de Hong Kong
. For the filming of A View to a Kill
(1985), her final appearance, Bond producer Cubby Broccoli told her that the two of them were the only ones from Dr. No
still working on the series. Maxwell asked that her character be killed off, but Broccoli recast the role instead. Her final Bond film was also Moore's last outing, and she was succeeded by Caroline Bliss during the Timothy Dalton
era and later by Samantha Bond in the Pierce Brosnan
films. (Moneypenny has yet to appear in a Daniel Craig
Bond film.)
As Moneypenny, according to author Tom Lisanti, she was seen as an "anchor", with her flirtatious repartee with Bond lending the films realism
and humanism
. For Moneypenny, Bond was "unobtainable", freeing the characters to make outrageous sexual double entendre
s. At the same time, her character did little to imbue the series with changing feminist notions.
Although she is world famous for this role, her total screen time as Moneypenny in 14 films was less than twenty minutes, and she spoke fewer than 200 words.
, where she wrote a column for the Toronto Sun
under the Miss Moneypenny pseudonym and became a businesswoman working in the textile industry. In 1994, she returned to England once more in order to be near her daughter, and retired to a cottage in Frome
, Somerset
.
, Australia
to live with her son's family. She remained there, working on her autobiography, until her death at Fremantle Hospital
, on 29 September 2007.
"It's rather a shock", long-time friend Roger Moore
told BBC Radio 5 Live
. "She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with and was absolutely perfect casting", he said of her role as Miss Moneypenny, going on to reference a comment attributed to Maxwell that she would have liked to have seen Moneypenny become the new M
after Moore's retirement from the role. "It was a great pity that, after I moved out of Bond, they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton
films. I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M."
Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year
Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress
The Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress originated in 1948. Between 1954 and 1965, multiple winners were announced. The category was discontinued following the 1983 ceremonies.-Winners:*1948: Lois Maxwell*1950: Mercedes McCambridge...
for her performance in That Hagen Girl
That Hagen Girl
That Hagen Girl is a 1947 American drama film directed by Peter Godfrey. The screenplay by Charles Hoffman was based on the novel by Edith Kneipple Roberts. The film focuses on small town teenage girl Mary Hagen whom gossips believe is the illegitimate daughter of former resident and lawyer Tom...
(1947). Following a number of small film roles, Maxwell grew dissatisfied and travelled to Italy where she worked in films from 1951 until 1955, and following her marriage, she moved to the United Kingdom where she appeared in several television productions.
She originated the role of Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny
Jane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...
in the James Bond franchise, playing the character in fourteen films, from Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
(1962) until her final performance of the character in A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
(1985).
As Maxwell's career declined, she lived in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, until she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2001. She moved to Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
where she lived with her son until her death in 2007, at the age of eighty.
Early life
Born Lois Ruth Hooker in Kitchener, OntarioKitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
to parents who were a nurse and a teacher. She grew up in Toronto and attended Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute. Dissatisfied with the yields of baby sitting jobs, Lois set her sights on something more lucrative and landed her first job working as a waitress at Canada's largest and most luxurious summer resort, Bigwin Inn, on Bigwin Island in Lake of Bays, Ontario, Canada. She ran away from home at the age of fifteen to join the Canadian Women's Army Corps during World War II, a unit formed to release men for combat duties. CWAC personnel were secretaries, vehicle drivers and mechanics, and performed all conceivable non-combat duties. Maxwell quickly became part of the Army Show in Canada, and later as part of the Canadian Auxiliary Services Entertainment Unit she was posted to the United Kingdom, performing music and dance numbers to entertain the troops, often appearing with Canadian comedians Wayne and Shuster. The truth about her age was discovered when the group reached London, and in order to avoid repatriation to Canada she was discharged and then enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
where she became friends with fellow student Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
.
Career
Travelling to Hollywood at the age of twenty, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - ActressGolden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress
The Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress originated in 1948. Between 1954 and 1965, multiple winners were announced. The category was discontinued following the 1983 ceremonies.-Winners:*1948: Lois Maxwell*1950: Mercedes McCambridge...
for her role in the Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
comedy That Hagen Girl
That Hagen Girl
That Hagen Girl is a 1947 American drama film directed by Peter Godfrey. The screenplay by Charles Hoffman was based on the novel by Edith Kneipple Roberts. The film focuses on small town teenage girl Mary Hagen whom gossips believe is the illegitimate daughter of former resident and lawyer Tom...
, and she participated in a 1949 Life Magazine photo layout in which she posed with another up-and-coming actress named Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
. It was at this time that she changed her surname to Maxwell, a name she borrowed from a ballet dancer friend. The rest of her family also adopted the name Maxwell.
Most of her work was minor roles in B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
s. Having tired of Hollywood, she moved back to Europe, living in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
for five years from 1950 to 1955. There she made a series of films, and at one point became an amateur racing driver. One of her Italian films was a 1953 adaptation of the opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Aida
Aida (1953 film)
Aida is a 1953 Italian film version of the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi. It was directed by Clemente Fracassi and produced by Gregor Rabinovitch and Federico Teti. The screenplay was adapted by Fracassi, Carlo Castelli, Anna Gobbi and Giorgio Salviucci from the libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni...
in which Maxwell played a leading role, lip-synching to another woman's opera vocals and appearing in several scenes with a pre-stardom Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
, who also performed to another person's singing. While on a trip to Paris, she met her future husband, television executive Peter Marriott; they were married in 1957 and moved to live in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Their daughter Melinda (born 1958) and son Christian (born 1959) were both born in London. Marriott, a former commander of the Viceroy of India's household troops, had himself been screen-tested by Cubby Broccoli as a potential James Bond.
During the 1960s, she appeared in many other television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
and movies both in Britain and Canada, and was the star of Adventures in Rainbow Country
Adventures in Rainbow Country
Adventures in Rainbow Country was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television in 1970 and 1971.A half hour family drama, the show starred Lois Maxwell as Nancy Williams, a widow raising her children Billy and Hannah in rural Northern Ontario...
later that decade. She guest starred in episodes of The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
and The Persuaders!
The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
which both starred Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
. Maxwell also had a secondary role in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's Lolita
Lolita (1962 film)
Lolita is a 1962 comedy-drama film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. The film stars James Mason as Humbert Humbert, Sue Lyon as Dolores Haze and Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze with Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty.Due to the MPAA's restrictions at...
. She provided the voice of Atlanta for the science fiction children's series Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
in 1963. In 1965, Maxwell made a guest appearance in the "Something for a Rainy Day" episode of the ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
series The Baron
The Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
, playing an insurance investigator. She also portrayed Moneypenny in a 1967 made-for-television special (produced by EON Productions) titled Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond.
Miss Moneypenny
Maxwell lobbied for the role in the James Bond film Dr. No, as her husband had had a heart attack and they needed the money. Director Terence Young, who once had turned her down on the grounds that she looked like she "smelled of soap", offered her either Moneypenny or the recurring Bond girlfriend, Sylvia TrenchSylvia Trench
Sylvia Trench is a fictional character in two James Bond films, portrayed by Eunice Gayson. In the first of Sean Connery's outings as British secret agent 007, Dr. No, he meets Trench from across a Baccarat table at the London club Le Cercle...
, but she was uncomfortable with a revealing scene in the screenplay. The role as M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
's secretary guaranteed just two days' work at ₤100 a day; Maxwell supplied her own clothes. The Trench character, however, was eliminated after From Russia With Love
From Russia with Love (film)
From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
.
In 1967, Maxwell angered Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
for a time by appearing in the Italian spy spoof Operation Kid Brother with the star's brother Neil Connery
Neil Connery
Neil Connery is a Scottish retired actor and is the brother of the actor Sean Connery. Neil is known for his role in the movie OK Connery, a James Bond satire and the 1969 film The Body Stealers.-External links:...
and Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
. In 1971, Maxwell was nearly replaced for Diamonds Are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
after demanding a pay rise; her policewoman's cap disguises hair she had already dyed for another role. However she continued in the role, as her former classmate Roger Moore took over the part of 007. In 1975, she played Moneypenny weeping for the death of James Bond in a short scene with Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
as M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
in the French comedy Bons baisers de Hong Kong
Bons baisers de Hong Kong
Bons baisers de Hong Kong is a 1975 French film directed by Yvan Chiffre. It is a parody of James Bond movies featuring Les Charlots with scenes shot in Hong Kong...
. For the filming of A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
(1985), her final appearance, Bond producer Cubby Broccoli told her that the two of them were the only ones from Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
still working on the series. Maxwell asked that her character be killed off, but Broccoli recast the role instead. Her final Bond film was also Moore's last outing, and she was succeeded by Caroline Bliss during the Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
era and later by Samantha Bond in the Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
films. (Moneypenny has yet to appear in a Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
Bond film.)
As Moneypenny, according to author Tom Lisanti, she was seen as an "anchor", with her flirtatious repartee with Bond lending the films realism
Realism (dramatic arts)
Realism was a general movement in 19th-century theatre that developed a set of dramatic and theatrical conventions with the aim of bringing a greater fidelity of real life to texts and performances....
and humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
. For Moneypenny, Bond was "unobtainable", freeing the characters to make outrageous sexual double entendre
Double entendre
A double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
s. At the same time, her character did little to imbue the series with changing feminist notions.
Although she is world famous for this role, her total screen time as Moneypenny in 14 films was less than twenty minutes, and she spoke fewer than 200 words.
Later life
In 1973, Maxwell's husband, who had long been ill following a serious heart attack in the early 1960s, died. Maxwell then returned to Canada, settling in Oakville, OntarioOakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, where she wrote a column for the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
under the Miss Moneypenny pseudonym and became a businesswoman working in the textile industry. In 1994, she returned to England once more in order to be near her daughter, and retired to a cottage in Frome
Frome
Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
Later years and death
Following surgery for bowel cancer in 2001, Maxwell moved to PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
to live with her son's family. She remained there, working on her autobiography, until her death at Fremantle Hospital
Fremantle Hospital
Fremantle Hospital is a 24 hour acute-care public teaching hospital situated in central Fremantle, Western Australia, south of Perth.Fremantle Hospital and Health Service provides 575 beds across all campuses, including a 66 bed psychiatric and psychogeriatric service.The main facility of Fremantle...
, on 29 September 2007.
"It's rather a shock", long-time friend Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
told BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
. "She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with and was absolutely perfect casting", he said of her role as Miss Moneypenny, going on to reference a comment attributed to Maxwell that she would have liked to have seen Moneypenny become the new M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
after Moore's retirement from the role. "It was a great pity that, after I moved out of Bond, they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
films. I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M."
Filmography
- A Matter of Life and Death (1946) (uncredited film debut)
- That Hagen GirlThat Hagen GirlThat Hagen Girl is a 1947 American drama film directed by Peter Godfrey. The screenplay by Charles Hoffman was based on the novel by Edith Kneipple Roberts. The film focuses on small town teenage girl Mary Hagen whom gossips believe is the illegitimate daughter of former resident and lawyer Tom...
(1947) - Corridor of MirrorsCorridor of Mirrors (film)Corridor of Mirrors is a 1948 British drama film directed by Terence Young and starring Eric Portman, Edana Romney and Barbara Mullen. It was based on a novel by Christopher Massie.-Cast:* Eric Portman - Paul Mangin* Edana Romney - Mifanwy Conway...
(1948) - Crime Doctor's Diary (1949)
- Submarine Attack (1954)
- Satellite in the Sky (1956)
- Passport to Treason (1956)
- Time Without PityTime Without PityTime Without Pity is a thriller about a father trying to save his son from execution for murder.It stars Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, and Leo McKern.-Plot:David Graham has only 24 hours to save his son, Alec, from hanging...
(1957) - Kill Me TomorrowKill Me TomorrowKill Me Tomorrow is a 1957 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Pat O'Brien and Lois Maxwell. It was made by Tempean Films at Southall Studios in West London.-Cast:*Pat O'Brien as Bart Crosbie*Lois Maxwell as Jill Brook...
(1957) - The Unstoppable ManThe Unstoppable ManThe Unstoppable Man is a 1960 British crime drama film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Cameron Mitchell, Harry H. Corbett, Marius Goring and Lois Maxwell.-Plot:...
(1960) - Dr. NoDr. No (film)Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
(1962) - LolitaLolita (1962 film)Lolita is a 1962 comedy-drama film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. The film stars James Mason as Humbert Humbert, Sue Lyon as Dolores Haze and Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze with Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty.Due to the MPAA's restrictions at...
(1962) - From Russia with LoveFrom Russia with Love (film)From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
(1963) - The HauntingThe Haunting (1963 film)The Haunting is a 1963 British psychological horror film by American director Robert Wise and adapted by Nelson Gidding from the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It stars Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn. The film centers around the conflict between...
(1963) - GoldfingerGoldfinger (film)Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
(1964) - ThunderballThunderball (film)Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
(1965) - You Only Live TwiceYou Only Live Twice (film)You Only Live Twice is the fifth spy film in the James Bond series, and the fifth to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name...
(1967) - Operation Kid Brother (1967)
- On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
(1969) - Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever (film)Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
(1971) - Endless NightEndless Night (1972 film)Endless Night is a 1972 British crime film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Hayley Mills, Britt Ekland, Per Oscarsson, Hywel Bennett and George Sanders. It is based on the novel Endless Night by Agatha Christie.-Plot:...
(1972) - Live and Let DieLive and Let Die (film)Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
(1973) - The Man with the Golden GunThe Man with the Golden Gun (film)The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
(1974) - Bons baisers de Hong KongBons baisers de Hong KongBons baisers de Hong Kong is a 1975 French film directed by Yvan Chiffre. It is a parody of James Bond movies featuring Les Charlots with scenes shot in Hong Kong...
(From Hong Kong with Love) (1975) - The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me (film)The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
(1977) - MoonrakerMoonraker (film)Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
(1979) - For Your Eyes OnlyFor Your Eyes Only (film)For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
(1981) - OctopussyOctopussyOctopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights...
(1983) - A View to a KillA View to a KillA View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
(1985) - The Fourth AngelThe Fourth AngelThe Fourth Angel is a 2001 British thriller directed by John Irvin and written by Allan Scott, from a novel by Robin Hunter. It stars Jeremy Irons as a man who seeks justice after a terrorist attack on the plane in which his family is travelling...
(2001)
Television series
- Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(1960) - Zero One (1962)
- The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
(1964) - Ghost SquadGhost Squad (TV series)Ghost Squad, known as G.S.5 for its third season, was a crime drama series about an elite division of Scotland Yard that ran between 1961 and 1964. Each episode the Ghost Squad would investigate cases that fell outside the scope of normal police work...
(1964) - StingrayStingray (TV series)Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
(1964) - Gideon's WayGideon's WayGideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey . The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series...
(1964) - The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
(1966) - Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)Randall and Hopkirk , first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman...
(1969) - Adventures in Rainbow CountryAdventures in Rainbow CountryAdventures in Rainbow Country was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television in 1970 and 1971.A half hour family drama, the show starred Lois Maxwell as Nancy Williams, a widow raising her children Billy and Hannah in rural Northern Ontario...
(1969) - starring role - Department SDepartment SDepartment S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King , Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst...
(1970) - UFOUFO (TV series)UFO is a 1970-1971 British television science fiction series about an alien invasion of Earth, created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company.UFO first aired in the UK and Canada...
(1971) - The Persuaders!The Persuaders!The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
(1972) - Alfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock PresentsAlfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
(1987)
External links
- Obituary in The Times, 1 October 2007
- Miss Moneypenny lives here, Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, 14 January 2005