Dame Stella Rimington, the former first female director general of MI5, died 'surrounded by her beloved family and dogs', her family has announced.

Dame Stella is widely credited as the model for Dame Judi Dench’s M in the James Bond films

Former director general died on Sunday night ‘surrounded by her beloved family and dogs’

Dame Stella Rimington, the former first female director general of MI5, died 'surrounded by her beloved family and dogs', her family has announced.

She is widely credited as the model for Dame Judi Dench’s M in the James Bond franchise

She inspired Judi Dench’s portrayal of M and helped to change MI5’s old-boys’ club image but later clashed with the service over her memoirs

Dame Stella was the first female director general of the service and the first to be publicly identified.

She was widely credited as the inspiration for Dame Judi Dench’s spy chief ‘M’ in the James Bond movies

Stella Rimington, the first female chief of Britain's spy agency MI5 and the inspiration behind Judi Dench's M in James Bond, has died at the age of 90.

È considerata l'ispirazione per il personaggio di "M" interpretato dall'attrice Judi Dench nei film di James Bond

Von 1992 an leitete Stella Rimington als erste Frau den britischen Inlandsgeheimdienst MI5. Sie war auch die erste Person an der Spitze, deren Name öffentlich bekannt wurde – und…

Widely regarded as the inspiration for the recast of the James Bond character “M,” she was the first British spy chief to be publicly named and photographed.