American filmmaker John Huston.

John Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He was known for directing the films The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Misfits (1960), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), among others.

The 1967 satire Casino Royale featured not one but two Ms. The first M is played by John Huston. M’s real name here is McTarry and he is accidentally killed when (in order to get Bond out of retirement) he orders the military to fire mortars at Bond’s mansion when the retired spy refuses to return to duty. The first quarter of the film features Bond’s visit to McTarry Castle in Scotland, on a quest to return the only piece of M’s remains recovered after the attack – his toupee, referred to as a “hair-loom”. McTarry is said to be married and has a large number of daughters, although the details are muddled since his family is replaced by agents of Dr Noah (the fate of McTarry’s real wife and offspring are not revealed).

Subsequently, Bond (David Niven) becomes the new M (though he is not regularly referred to by that title) and proceeds to order that all MI6 agents, male and female, be renamed ‘James Bond 007’ in order to confuse the enemy.