Pierre Boulle

Pierre Boulle was a French novelist largely known for two famous works, *The Bridge Over the River Kwai* (1952) and *Planet of the Apes* (1963). David Lean made The Bridge over the River Kwai into a motion picture that won several 1957 Oscars, including the Best Picture, and Best Actor for Alec Guinness. Boulle himself won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay despite not having written the screenplay and, by his own admission, not even speaking English. (He gave what …