Miss Moneypenny (Samantha Bond)

Character

Miss Moneypenny is the only character aside from Bond to have appeared in every film. The character is only a minor one in the novels (although she hardly features substantially in any of the movies). Although it was said that she had a secret desire for Bond, she never did anything about it; the flirting with Bond was certainly an invention of the movies.

Moneypenny finally gets her way with Bond in "Die Another Day", when she steals a kiss - in the Virtual Reality training system in Q-Branch.

Biography

Born: 1962

Samantha Bond first played M's able assistant in GoldenEye in 1995, having taken over the role from Caroline Bliss, who played Miss Moneypenny in the two previous Bond films, following Lois Maxwell in the first 14 adventures.

Bond recently played the title role in David Hare's Broadway production of "Amy's View" opposite her World is Not Enough co-star Judi Dench, duplicating their West End stage success in the same play. Her other work at London's National Theatre has included "The Cid" and "The Ends of the Earth."

Having trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Bond starred in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of "A Winter's Tale" and "As You Like It" and played opposite Kenneth Branagh in "Romeo and Juliet" and "Much Ado About Nothing" (directed by Judi Dench) for the Renaissance Theatre Company. Other West End appearances include "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," Edward Albee's "Three Tall Women," "Man of the Moment" and most recently, "The Memory of Water."

Bond has appeared in a wide variety of British television movies and series in addition to such feature film credits as Erik the Viking, What Rats Won't Do and the last three James Bond movies in which she plays Moneypenny.