Maxwell starred alongside Sir Sean Connery in Bond's first movie outing, Dr No, in 1962.

She played the role until 1985's A View To A Kill with Sir Roger Moore, who told the BBC she had been a "great asset" to the early Bond movies.

A spokesperson for Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia, said she died there on Saturday evening.

Maxwell starred in 14 Bond films as the secretary to M, the secret agent's boss and head of the secret service.

She appeared in more movies than any of the actors who played the lead role in the spy series, including Sir Sean Connery and Sir Roger Moore.

Only Desmond Llewelyn, who played gadget man Q 17 times before his death in 1999, starred in more films.

"It's rather a shock," Sir Roger, who had known her since they were students at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) in 1944, told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"She was always fun and she was wonderful to be with."

"She absolutely perfect casting," he said of her role as Miss Moneypenny.

"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'd known Lois from the beginning of my acting career, we were both drama students at Rada in 1944 and 1945.

We first played opposite each other in Pride and Prejudice. I was Darcy, she was Elizabeth. She was a very fine actress with a great sense of humour.

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.

Lois was wonderful, absolutely perfect casting. It was a great pity that after I moved out of Bond, that they didn't take her on to continue in the Timothy Dalton films.

She had a tremendous sense of humour. She used to sing dirty songs, from the Canadian women's army in which she'd served.

We'd done a number of episodes of The Saint and The Persuaders together, so over the past 60 years I'd seen a great deal of her. But unfortunately, not over the last couple of years.

She had a quite a wide range of parts before she went into the Bond franchise. I'm afraid she got sort of typecast as Miss Moneypenny, that's what producers do, unfortunately, they put people in categories, they don't seem to move people out of them.

At the National Movie Awards, I presented an award to [Bond producers] Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson. It's a pity the timing was so bad, we really could have given her a tribute then.