After Lee's death in 1981, in the thought to recast M, some minds went to Ralph Truman, the supporting actor who brought distinguished bearing to many an authority figure, quickly quashed as he had died in 1977. The actor the producers hired to play M in "Octopussy" was Robert Brown. At the time of the film's release, the general thought was that this was the same M whom Lee had played, but was now being played by Brown, in the same way that Roger Moore and George Lazenby had replaced Sean Connery. Brown, however, had previously played Admiral Hargreaves, Flag Officer Submarines, in the 1977 film, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and Bond scholars Steven Jay Rubin, John Cork, and Collin Stutz all consider Admiral Hargreaves would have been appointed to the role of M, rather than Brown playing either the same M as Lee, or even a different character altogether.