Lois Maxwell

The runaway who ended up at MI6

Lois Maxwell ran away from home in Canada at fifteen with a false identity to join the army during World War II. She wasn't after military glory but the stage. She ended up at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she shared a desk with a very young Roger Moore.

That friendship would last a lifetime.

In 1947 she landed in Hollywood and won a Golden Globe as New Promise for her role in That Hagen Girl. She shared the bill with Ronald Reagan, but the industry didn't quite know what to do with her. She returned to Europe in the early fifties because the studio system was suffocating her and she preferred to try her luck in Italian cinema.

She lived in Rome and worked in B-movie productions while her bank account ran dry. But director Terence Young called her in 1962 for a spy project no one knew would succeed. She was offered a choice between the role of Sylvia Trench or a secretary named Miss Moneypenny.

She chose the second option to have a steady salary that would allow her to care for her sick husband.

She was paid exactly 100 pounds for her first day of filming on Dr. No. She had no long-term contract, and each time she appeared in a franchise installment she signed a new deal for individual days. She kept this up for twenty-three years and fourteen consecutive films.

The Fourteen Titles Filmography

Maxwell built a character based on unresolved desire and absolute loyalty. She never had more than ten minutes on screen per film, but her presence was the anchor of humanity that James Bond needed. In 1967 she took part in the Italian parody O.K. Connery alongside Sean Connery's brother to capitalize on the genre's appeal.

Her relationship with the producers grew strained when Roger Moore left the role. She asked to take over the M position so she could stay connected to the franchise. The people at Eon Productions rejected the idea because audiences at the time would not accept a woman in charge of the secret service.

She was replaced by Caroline Bliss in 1987 for the premiere of 007: Alta tensión.

She moved to Toronto and began writing a weekly column for the Toronto Sun under the pen name of her most famous character. The column worked for years and let her keep an active public profile without depending on casting directors' calls. But film was no longer her priority.

She returned to the United Kingdom in the late nineties to be close to her daughter. She took part in some minor projects and accepted short parts in British television series. In 2001 she made her last film, The Fourth Angel, alongside Jeremy Irons and Jason Priestley.

She died in a hospital in Fremantle, Australia, in 2007 after a battle with colon cancer. She had traveled there to spend her final months with her son's family. Her death certificate lists her real name, Lois Ruth Marriott, far from the spotlight of London.