Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE (1907-1989) was an English author and playwright. Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca (the film adaptation of which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941) and Jamaica Inn and the short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now. The first three film adaptations were directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the last by Nicolas Roeg. Her grandfather was the artist and writer George du Maurier and her father the actor Gerald du Maurier. Her elder sister Angela also became a writer, and her younger sister Jeanne was a painter.