Biography

Lois Maxwell

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Overview

Born
February 14, 1927 · Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Died
September 29, 2007 · Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia (bowel cancer)
Birth name
Lois Ruth Hooker
Height
5′ 8″ (1.73 m)

Biography

Everyone knows (or should know) Lois Maxwell as the one and only "Miss Moneypenny," but there's much more to her acting career than that. She started out against her parents' will, and without their knowledge, in a Canadian children's radio program, credited as "Robin Wells." Before the age of 15 she left for England with the Canadian army's Entertainment Corps and managed (after her age had been discovered) to get herself enrolled in The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she met and became friends with Roger Moore. Her movie career started with a Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger production, A Matter of Life and Death (1946). After having won The Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe Award in 1947, she went to Hollywood and made six films before she decided to try her luck in Italy. She had to leave Italy to go to England when her husband became ill, and since then she has had roles in a number of movies besides the first 14 Bond movies. In 1989 she retired.
- IMDb mini biography by: <elmic@post8.tele.dk>
Lois Maxwell has lived in Canada having moved from England.

While still acting in the Bond films during the 80s Lois also became a regular columnist for the Toronto Sun newspaper. She purchased a cottage in northern Ontario and would often share stories about her experiences on the movie set, her co-stars, life in Italy, her experiences growing up in Canada and about her present life in general. As well as commenting on topics of the day.

Her feature was a favorite for many and she was sorely missed when she finally retired from writing for the Toronto Sun.
- IMDb mini biography by: Frank Hadzalic< fhadzalic@yahoo.ca>

Family

Spouse
Children

Trivia

Close friend of "James Bond" co-star, Roger Moore. In 1944, they were in the same class at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Along with Albert R. Broccoli, she was one of only two people to work on all 14 "Bond" films from Dr. No (1962) to A View to a Kill (1985).
As well as appearing beside Roger Moore as Miss Moneypenny, Maxwell made two appearances in The Saint (1962).
In spite of appearing in fourteen of the James Bond films, her total combined screen time is roughly only seventeen minutes.
In 1949, when she was getting started in Hollywood, Maxwell was among eight starlets who were asked to pose for a picture in Life magazine. In addition to Maxwell, there was another starlet who would go on to bigger things, Marilyn Monroe.