{"id":2281,"date":"2026-06-03T03:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/?p=2281"},"modified":"2026-06-03T03:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:56:19","slug":"pamela-salem-actress-who-played-miss-moneypenny-opposite-sean-connerys-james-bond-obituary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/?p=2281","title":{"rendered":"Pamela Salem, actress who played Miss Moneypenny opposite Sean Connery\u2019s James Bond \u2013 obituary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a hidden=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/pamela-salem-actress-moneypenny-james-bond-obituary\/#main-content\" aria-hidden=\"false\">Jump to content<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"site-header-wrapper \">\n<header id=\"navigation\" class=\"site-header\n\n\t\t\t\t   site-header--has-sub-navigation\" data-test=\"site-header\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"site-header__primary-wrapper\" data-test=\"site-header-primary\">\n<div class=\"site-header__container site-header__primary-content\">\n<div class=\"site-header__masthead\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<p><main id=\"main-content\" class=\"container tpl-article tpl-article__layout--standard\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"grid\">\n<header class=\"grid-col\n\t\tgrid-col-12\n\t\ttpl-article__layout\n\t\ttpl-article__layout--header\n\t\t\" data-test=\"article-header\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"e-standfirst u-heading-4  \" data-test=\"standfirst\">She received good notices as M\u2019s secretary and Never Say Never Again was seen as superior to the official Bond movies of the time<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"grid-col\n\t\t\tgrid-col-12\n\t\t\tu-full-bleed\n\t\t\tu-full-bleed--reset-sm\n\t\t\ttpl-article__lead-asset\n\t\t\t\" data-lead-asset-layout=\"small\" data-test=\"article-lead-asset\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"article-body-image section\" data-js=\"article-body-image\" data-test=\"article-body-image\"><figcaption class=\"e-caption u-meta e-caption--has-separator e-caption--hide-small-screens  \" data-js=\"caption\"><span data-test=\"caption\">Pamela Salem\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"e-caption__credit\" data-test=\"credit\"><span class=\"e-caption__credit-description\">Credit<\/span>: Trinity Mirror\/Mirrorpix\/Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-col\n\t\t\t\t\tgrid-col-12\n\t\t\t\t\ttpl-article__layout\n\t\t\t\t\ttpl-article__layout--content\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\" data-js=\"article-body\" data-test=\"tpl-article-body-recipe\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"component article-body-text    \" data-test=\"article-body-text\">\n<p>Pamela Salem, who has died at her home in Florida aged 80, was a British actress who worked busily on both sides of the Atlantic; in 1983 she played Miss Moneypenny opposite Sean Connery\u2019s ageing James Bond in the \u201crogue\u201d Bond picture Never Say Never Again.<\/p>\n<p>Connery engineered her casting after they had worked well together in Michael Crichton\u2019s period crime caper The First Great Train Robbery (1979). Pamela Salem found Connery ever genial and thoroughly unvain: she recalled that he would immediately remove his toupee when filming finished.<\/p>\n<p>Never Say Never Again caused a stir as an \u201cunofficial\u201d Bond film, exploiting a copyright loophole to make use of characters owned by Eon Productions, and luring Connery into reprising the role he had retired from a dozen years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>There were reports in the press that Lois Maxwell, who had flirted primly with 007 throughout two decades as Eon\u2019s Moneypenny, had not taken kindly to another actress usurping her billet outside M\u2019s office in a synthetic Bond picture. Pamela Salem rebutted the claims: \u201cIt was all absolute nonsense, and Lois Maxwell wrote a very nice letter to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"html-embed section\" data-test=\"html-embed\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7eIMAjso7sg?si=D5cZ7NfC8APasTpc\" width=\"100%\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"component article-body-text    \" data-test=\"article-body-text\">\n<p>Like other Moneypennys, she found the role frustratingly deskbound: \u201cit seemed everyone else went out to the Bahamas, but I was stuck in London.\u201d But The Sunday Telegraph judged her \u201ca decorous new Moneypenny\u201d and the film received much better reviews than the Eon pictures of the period starring Roger Moore.<\/p>\n<p>In 1988 Pamela Salem went on to a memorable six-month run in EastEnders. She played Joanne Francis, the well-heeled manager of a Walford wine bar that doubled as an illegal gambling den, and was responsible for inducting the popular character \u201cDirty Den\u201d Watts (Leslie Grantham) into the world of organised crime, thereby precipitating his famous encounter with a lethal bunch of daffodils and departure from the series.<\/p>\n<p>It was a welcome reunion for Pamela Salem, who did much voluntary work in prisons and had met Grantham some years earlier while he was serving time for murder; she had helped him to apply for drama school on his release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"article-body-image section\" data-js=\"article-body-image\" data-test=\"article-body-image\">\n<div class=\"article-body-image__container\"><picture class=\"picture--block article-body-image__source  \"><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367691311_17091319163900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqHcSXtmASCPwByb3Zp5QEFv9OeoYGZmePWsTvlGEiYZQ.jpeg?imwidth=960\" media=\"( min-width: 1280px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367691311_17091319163900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqHcSXtmASCPwByb3Zp5QEFv9OeoYGZmePWsTvlGEiYZQ.jpeg?imwidth=680\" media=\"( min-width: 768px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367691311_17091319163900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqHcSXtmASCPwByb3Zp5QEFv9OeoYGZmePWsTvlGEiYZQ.jpeg?imwidth=480&amp;imdensity=2\" media=\"( min-width: 350px ) and ( -webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2 )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367691311_17091319163900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqHcSXtmASCPwByb3Zp5QEFv9OeoYGZmePWsTvlGEiYZQ.jpeg?imwidth=480\" media=\"( min-width: 350px )\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367691311_17091319163900_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqHcSXtmASCPwByb3Zp5QEFv9OeoYGZmePWsTvlGEiYZQ.jpeg?imwidth=350\" alt=\"Pamela Salem in 1981 as the evil Belor in the series Into the Labyrinth\" width=\"1563\" height=\"2500\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"e-caption u-meta e-caption--has-separator   \" data-js=\"caption\"><span data-test=\"caption\">Pamela Salem in 1981 as the evil Belor in the series Into the Labyrinth\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"e-caption__credit\" data-test=\"credit\"><span class=\"e-caption__credit-description\">Credit<\/span>: United News\/Popperfoto<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"component article-body-text    \" data-test=\"article-body-text\">\n<p>Pamela Fortunee Salem was born on January 22 1944 in Bombay, where her father, who was Jewish, worked as a civil engineer. Her mother\u2019s family came from Sri Lanka. Recalling that \u201cIndia encourages everything creative\u201d, she \u201cwanted to be an actress from the year dot\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>After schooling in England she studied at Heidelberg University in Germany before going to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where her clipped colonial vowels were softened. Her career began in rep in York and Chesterfield.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to much touring stage work she appeared in numerous television series in the 1970s, including The Onedin Line, Van der Valk, Blake\u2019s 7 \u2013 \u201cI played a High Priestess who met rather an unpleasant end with a spear sticking through her\u201d \u2013 and The Professionals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"article-body-image section\" data-js=\"article-body-image\" data-test=\"article-body-image\">\n<div class=\"article-body-image__container\"><picture class=\"picture--block article-body-image__source  \"><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689996_17091320943880_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry06Usa8KZCn8ZaDf3fwLU6E.jpeg?imwidth=960\" media=\"( min-width: 1280px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689996_17091320943880_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry06Usa8KZCn8ZaDf3fwLU6E.jpeg?imwidth=680\" media=\"( min-width: 768px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689996_17091320943880_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry06Usa8KZCn8ZaDf3fwLU6E.jpeg?imwidth=480&amp;imdensity=2\" media=\"( min-width: 350px ) and ( -webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2 )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689996_17091320943880_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry06Usa8KZCn8ZaDf3fwLU6E.jpeg?imwidth=480\" media=\"( min-width: 350px )\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689996_17091320943880_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqGQR7TMwEvfaYG0TH6J-Ry06Usa8KZCn8ZaDf3fwLU6E.jpeg?imwidth=350\" alt=\"Pamela Salem as Herodias with Thomas Milian as Herod in Claude d'Anna's 1986 film Salom\u00e9\" width=\"2500\" height=\"1563\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"e-caption u-meta    \" data-js=\"caption\"><span data-test=\"caption\">Pamela Salem as Herodias with Thomas Milian as Herod in Claude d&#8217;Anna&#8217;s 1986 film Salom\u00e9<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"component article-body-text    \" data-test=\"article-body-text\">\n<p>In 1977 she played Toos, an ally of Tom Baker\u2019s Doctor, in the Doctor Who serial \u201cThe Robots of Death\u201d \u2013 \u201cI had to wear a hat like half a bicycle wheel and a dress that was a definite disadvantage when trying to escape from those robots\u201d. She returned in 1988 as a scientist opposite Sylvester McCoy\u2019s Doctor in \u201cRemembrance of the Daleks\u201d, notable as the first serial in which a Dalek manages to ascend a staircase.<\/p>\n<p>The 980s saw Pamela Salem established as a villainess for a generation of youngsters in three series of the children\u2019s fantasy Into the Labyrinth, in which she was the evil Belor, antagonist of Ron Moody\u2019s noble sorcerer Rothgo. She was the French neighbour of expats Anton Rodgers and Jula McKenzie in the sitcom French Fields, and made a number of appearances in All Creatures Great and Small as Zo\u00eb Bennett, the wife of James Grout\u2019s hard-drinking vet.<\/p>\n<p>In 1983 Pamela Salem married the actor Michael O\u2019Hagan, and they moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s before settling in Florida, where she proved a doughty friend of stray dogs. She appeared in US series such as The West Wing (as the British prime minister), Magnum PI and ER.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"article-body-image section\" data-js=\"article-body-image\" data-test=\"article-body-image\">\n<div class=\"article-body-image__container\"><picture class=\"picture--block article-body-image__source  \"><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689994_17091322542000_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRZDo1uVj2kwMoMQVKtiIJefMGkxtkA8GpLOhlEAXTC4.jpeg?imwidth=960\" media=\"( min-width: 1280px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689994_17091322542000_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRZDo1uVj2kwMoMQVKtiIJefMGkxtkA8GpLOhlEAXTC4.jpeg?imwidth=680\" media=\"( min-width: 768px )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689994_17091322542000_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRZDo1uVj2kwMoMQVKtiIJefMGkxtkA8GpLOhlEAXTC4.jpeg?imwidth=480&amp;imdensity=2\" media=\"( min-width: 350px ) and ( -webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2 )\" \/><source srcset=\"\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689994_17091322542000_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRZDo1uVj2kwMoMQVKtiIJefMGkxtkA8GpLOhlEAXTC4.jpeg?imwidth=480\" media=\"( min-width: 350px )\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/content\/dam\/obituaries\/2024\/02\/28\/TELEMMGLPICT000367689994_17091322542000_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqRZDo1uVj2kwMoMQVKtiIJefMGkxtkA8GpLOhlEAXTC4.jpeg?imwidth=350\" alt=\"Pamela Salem during her time as the shady Joanne Francis in EastEnders\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1530\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"e-caption u-meta e-caption--has-separator   \" data-js=\"caption\"><span data-test=\"caption\">Pamela Salem during her time as the shady Joanne Francis in EastEnders\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"e-caption__credit\" data-test=\"credit\"><span class=\"e-caption__credit-description\">Credit<\/span>: Trinity Mirror\/Mirrorpix\/Alamy<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"articleBodyText section\">\n<div class=\"component article-body-text    \" data-test=\"article-body-text\">\n<p>In the cinema she romped in the salacious Joan Collins vehicle The Bitch (1979), and also appeared in Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Gods and Monsters (1998) and Down\u2019s Revenge (2019).<\/p>\n<p>Finding fewer roles in later life, Pamela Salem moved into stage and radio-drama production, and also produced documentary films with her husband. Latterly she reprised her Doctor Who roles in several audio spin-offs made by Big Finish. A great sci-fi enthusiast, in the 1990s she asked to be put on Pan Am\u2019s waiting list for the first commercial flight to the moon, and was sent two tickets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jump to content She received good notices as M\u2019s secretary and Never Say Never Again was seen as superior to the official Bond movies of the time Pamela Salem\u00a0Credit: Trinity &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2283,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions\/2283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmpackz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}