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Meet Miss Moneypenny

Broadcast Date: Jan. 19, 1981

Canadian actress Lois Maxwell is best known for trading not-so-subtle sexual puns with James Bond as the flirtatious yet unobtainable secretary Miss Moneypenny. In this 1981 episode of Front Page Challenge, the veteran vixen shares her memories of moviemaking with the Bonds as well as newly elected U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

Meet Miss Moneypenny

• Maxwell played Miss Moneypenny in 14 James Bond films, from 1962's Dr. No and A View To A Kill in 1985. Her total screen time amounted to less than two hours and fewer than 200 words. Her 14 appearances are second only to Desmond Llwelyn, who played gadget expert Q in 18 films.

• Knowing that A View To A Kill would be her final Bond movie, Maxwell asked that the Moneypenny character be killed off, but producer Albert Broccoli refused and recast the role instead.

• Miss Moneypenny's first name is Jane.

• The 1947 film That Hagen Girl, with Ronald Reagan and Shirley Temple, was Maxwell's first major film role. She won a Golden Globe award as "Most Promising Female Newcomer" for her work in the film.

• In this interview, Lois Maxwell alludes to another co-star's political career. She's referring to Shirley Temple, who served as U.S. ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia after her film career.

• Maxwell retreated from film and television work after A View To A Kill, making scattered TV appearances and just one more movie (The Fourth Angel in 2001).

• Lois Maxwell died in Fremantle, Australia on Sept. 29, 2007 at age 80.

Meet Miss Moneypenny

Medium: Television

Program: Front Page Challenge

Broadcast Date: Jan. 19, 1981

Guest(s): Lois Maxwell

Panellist: Pierre Berton, Betty Kennedy, Gordon Sinclair, Gary Drury

Duration: 8:27

Please contact the Writers Guild of Canada at 416-979-7907 X5236 if you are able to identify the writer of this clip.

Last updated:
Feb. 6, 2012