When was Leigh Brackett born and where did she grow up?
Leigh Douglass Brackett was born on the 7th of December 1915 in Los Angeles, California. She grew up as a tomboy who attended a private girls' school in Santa Monica.
Leigh Douglass Brackett was born on the 7th of December 1915 in Los Angeles, California. She grew up as a tomboy who attended a private girls' school in Santa Monica.
Her earliest years from 1940 to 1942 proved to be her most productive period as an author with stories like Martian Quest appearing in Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Shadow Over Mars marked the beginning of a new style influenced by film noir characterization and won a Retro Hugo Award for best novel in 2020.
Howard Hawks hired her again to write or co-write several John Wayne pictures including Rio Bravo released in 1959. Hatari! followed in 1962 while El Dorado arrived in 1966 and Rio Lobo completed their collaboration in 1970.
George Lucas asked Brackett to write the screenplay based on his story outline for The Empire Strikes Back and she delivered a finished first draft titled Star Wars sequel shortly before her death from cancer on the 18th of March 1978. Yoda was named Minch in her draft while Luke had a hidden sister named Nellith.
In 1956 her book The Long Tomorrow made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel. In 2020 she posthumously won a Retro Hugo for her novel Shadow Over Mars originally published as Shadow Over Mars in Startling Stories Fall 1944.