Moneypenny Dishes The Dirt (3)

By MI6 Staff

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Exactly 30 years ago, Lois Maxwell went public as having been 'pensioned off' from her role as Miss Moneypenny. She gave an interview to the Sydney Morning Herald and spilled the beans on the three 007s she had starred with and some of his leading ladies. This is the third part:

"'Moonraker' was a very disappointing film, but there was a wonderful practical joke played on Roger Moore and Lois Chiles. They were looking out of the spaceship when one of the propmen, dressed as a giant grasshopper, appeared at the window and waved at them. They just collapsed."

When Sean Connery took himself seriously: "After 'From Russia With Love', in 1963, Sean was nominated for election as Rector of St Andrew's University, along with Julius Nyerere and Peter Ustinov. He took it really seriously. He kept saying, 'I'm not 007, I'm Sean Connery'. He didn't get it and really resented that. Sean is a deep, dour man."

The Fur Coat Affair: "During 'Live And Let Die', I bought my first fur coat, and told the guys in the crew that it wasn't quite paid for yet. All I wanted was for filming to go over into a second day. But everything went perfectly so, at the end, the cameraman said 'Sory, there was something in the lens'. I think that was purely for my benefit. I got my second day, and paid for the coat."

James Bond, Wit: "Both Sean and Roger added their own lines to the script. In 'From Russia With Love', Lotte Lenya was trying to kill Bond by kicking him with a poisoned knife in her boot. Instead, he kills her, and says: 'At least she had her kicks'."

"In 'Octopussy', Roger comes face to face with a tiger, and commands it to 'Sit!', just like Barbara Woodhouse. The Americans had no idea what that was all about."

"There was another wonderful scene, off camera, in 'For Your Eyes Only'. He comes through a door at the wrong time and on my stage mark is an enormous electrician. Roger places a carnation in his hand and says, 'Oh, still, my bleeding heart'."