Lois Ruth (Hooker) Maxwell (1927 - 2007)

Born 14 Feb 1927 in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Died 29 Sep 2007 at age 80 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

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Biography

Lois (Hooker) Maxwell is Notable.

Lois was born in 1927 in Ontario and raised in Toronto. Her mother, Ruth Wells, was a nurse and her father, William Victor Hooker, was a teacher. She was one of four children.

Lois ran away from home when she was 15 or 16, during World War Two, and joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps. She became part of the Army Show, her role being to assist in entertaining troops. It was discovered when she reached England that she was underage and was discharged. Enrolling in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art she became friends with another student, Roger Moore.

She moved to Hollywood when she was 20 and soon after changed her surname from Hooker to Maxwell. She won The Most Promising Newcomer Golden Globe Award in 1947. She played opposite Ronald Reagan in Bedtime For Bonzo (1951).

In 1957 Lois married Peter Churchill Marriott, who was a British TV executive, and they moved to London where their two children were born.

She appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita in 1962 and on several TV shows, including The Saint and The Persuaders! which both starred Roger Moore. In Dr. No (1962), she was cast as Miss Moneypenny, starring alongside Sean Connery in the first James Bond movie. Lois is best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film series (1962–85). She took on the role after her husband had suffered a heart attack, and she was needing money to support the family.

Her daughter Melinda became an actress and appeared in Moonraker (1979).

Her husband died in 1973 and following his death she moved back to Toronto, but moved to England to be near her daughter in 1994. Following surgery for bowel cancer in 2001, Lois moved to Australia where her son Christian lived.

She passed away in 2007 in Fremantle, Western Australia. She was 80 years old. At the time of her death she was working on her autobiography, to be called "Born A Hooker".

She is said to be a distant cousin of Anne Lockhart and Richard Herd.

Sources

• Obituary - The Guardian - Lois Maxwell by Tim Pulleine, The Guardian, Mon 1 Oct 2007
• Canada Obituary Collection - Newspaper: Toronto Star; Publication Date: 10/ 1/ 2007; Publication Place: Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Web edition: http://www.thestar.com/imagesearch?q=obituaries&OrderBy=sReleaseDate%20DESC. Ancestry.com. Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-2017 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Name: Lois Maxwell; Gender: Female; Death Age: 80; Birth Date: Abt 1927; Death Date: Abt 2007; Obituary Date: 1 Oct 2007; Newspaper Title: Toronto Star; Newspaper Place: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Find-a-Grave Index - Ancestry.com. Australia and New Zealand, Find A Grave Index, 1800s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Name: Lois Maxwell; Birth Date: 14 Feb 1927; Birth Place: Kitchener, Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada; Death Date: 29 Sep 2007; Death Place: Fremantle, Fremantle City, Western Australia, Australia; Find A Grave: Memorial #21838302
• Wikipedia: Lois Maxwell
• Biography of Lois Maxwell at The Biography.com website
• "Maryland, Baltimore Passenger Lists Index, 1897-1952", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4178-N8PZ : 16 March 2020), Lois Ruth Hooker, 1947.
• "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVDP-QNLT : 8 October 2014), Lois R Maxwell and null, 1957; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1957, quarter 1, vol. 5C, p. 2841, Kensington, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.