Lois Maxwell, the tall Canadian actress who will always be cherished as the elegant, flirtatious Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond series, died of cancer on September 29 at Fremantle Hospital just outside her home in Perth, Australia. She was 80.

She was born Lois Hooker in Ontario, Canada on February 12, 1927, and started her career in radio before she relocated to Britain in 1942 as an entertainer with the Canadian army. Two years later, she was accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and began work in theater and eventually films, where she changed her name to Maxwell.

She made her film debut in the minor British drama, Spring Song (1946), but within a year, relocated to Hollywood and received a Golden Globe as "Most Promising Newcomer" in the Shirley Temple coming of age vehicle That Hagen Girl (1947). She made a few more films in he U.S., but critical and commercial reaction to such lukewarm thrillers as The Dark Past (1948) and The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949) really didn't do much for her career, so she headed to Italy and performed in some popular melodramas: Amori e veleni/Love and Poison (1949), Domani è troppo tardi/Tomorrow Is Too Late (1950), Lebbra bianca/Brief Rapture (1951. Her success there gave her enough motivation to return to Britain. Once there, she proved herself a serviceable secondary lead in a line of movies: Passport to Treason (1956) and Time Without Pity (1957) before landing her role as Jane Moneypenny in Dr. No (1962).

For a stretch that lasted over 20 years, 14 films (ending with A View To A Kill (1985) and three actors in the Bond incarnation (Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore), Maxwell's scenes as Bond's supervisor's secretary were brief, but they were highly memorable. Maxwell gave Moneypenny's flirtations with the spy just the right balance between insouciance and wit, making her quicksilver moments fine highlights in the film series.

Although she'll always be remembered as Miss Moneypenny, we should point out that she did some terrific work for television, especially when she played icy villains in cult shows such as the The Avengers, The Saint and The Persuaders. Her career slowed down after her James Bond heydays, and her final film was in a Jeremy Irons thriller The Fourth Angel (2001). Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with cancer and relocated to Australia to be closer to family. She is survived by a son, Christopher; and a granddaughter, Melinda.

by Michael T. Toole