Lois Ruth Hooker, better known as Lois Maxwell (14 February 1927 – 29 September 2007), was a Canadian actress.
Her most iconic role was Miss Moneypenny, the sassy and snarky MI6 secretary who has an Unresolved Sexual Tension with James Bond. She had small but fondly remembered appearances as the character in the first 14 movies of the series without interruption, over 23 years starting with Dr. No and ending with A View to a Kill, chatting or attempting to flirt with the Bonds played by Sean Connery, George Lazenby and Roger Moore. She was friends with the latter when they studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the UK in the late 1940s — both of them also appeared in The Saint and The Persuaders!, and both retired from the James Bond series with the same film. Caroline Bliss replaced her in the role starting in The Living Daylights.
She won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer for her role in That Hagen Girl (1947).
Tropes in her works:
- Approval of God: Ian Fleming himself fully approved of her being cast as Moneypenny."You know, Miss Maxwell, when I visualized Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond stories, I saw her as a tall, distinguished-looking woman with the most kissable lips in the world. You, my dear, are exactly the woman I visualized."
- Cast the Runner-Up: She auditioned for the role of Sylvia Trench in Dr. No, initially. Terence Young is infamously said to have told her "You smell of soap, not sex". She ended up playing Moneypenny, and for 14 appearances over 23 years at that, perfectly making up for it, while Sylvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) didn't appear in more than two films.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: She was Canadian, so her accent as Moneypenny was mid-atlantic, like when Princess Leia spoke with Grand Moff Tarkin in A New Hope. Her performance was also so good, it didn't detract from anything at all.
- Sassy Secretary: Moneypenny is a very strong contender for the most iconic example of the trope.
