Lois Maxwell, best known for her role as Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films, died late Saturday night after a battle with cancer.  She was 80 years old.  Maxwell was living in Western Australia at the time of her death.

Maxwell appeared in fourteen Bond movies, beginning with "Dr. No," in which she played the secretary to Bond's supervisor M.  Years of flirting with Sean Connery and Roger Moore followed, up through 1985's "A View to a Kill."

Upon hearing the news, Roger Moore said, "It's rather a shock.  She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with."  Regarding her role in the films, he said, "She was absolutely perfect casting.  It was a great pity that, after I moved out of Bond, they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton films.  I think it was a great disappointment to her that she had not been promoted to play M. She would have been a wonderful M."

In addition to her Bond role, Maxwell also appeared in Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita," The Avengers, and The Saint.

(Source: BBC News)