Stella Rimington, the first female head of Britain’s domestic security agency, MI5, and the widely credited inspiration for Judi Dench’s M in several James Bond films, died Aug. 3. She was 90. Her family announced the death in a statement shared by her literary agency.

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.

Dame Stella Rimington, the first woman to lead the UK's domestic secret service and the person believed to have inspired Judy Dench's characterisation of fictional spymaster M in the James Bond movies,