Pierre Boulle

Pierre Boulle
BornPierre François Marie Louis Boulle
(1912-02-20)20 February 1912
Avignon, France
Died30 January 1994(1994-01-30) (aged 81)
Paris, France
OccupationAuthor
NationalityFrench
Period1950–1992
Notable worksThe Bridge over the River Kwai
Planet of the Apes

Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French author. He is best known for two works, The Bridge over the River Kwai (1952) and Planet of the Apes (1963), that were both made into award-winning films.[1]

Boulle was an engineer serving as a secret agent with the Free French in Singapore, when he was captured and subjected to two years' forced labour. He used these experiences in The Bridge on the River Kwai, about the notorious Death Railway, which became an international bestseller. The film, named The Bridge on the River Kwai, by David Lean won seven Academy Awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay), and Boulle was credited with writing the screenplay, because its two actual screenwriters had been blacklisted.[2][3]

His science-fiction novel Planet of the Apes, in which intelligent apes gain mastery over humans, developed into a media franchise spanning over 55 years that includes ten films, two television series, comic books and popular themed merchandise.

  1. ^ "Boulle, Pierre-François-Marie-Louis." Britannica Book of the Year, 1995. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 25 May 2008
  2. ^ OLiver, Myrna (3 February 1994). "Pierre Boulle; Wrote 'River Kwai,' 'Planet of the Apes'" – via LA Times.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (13 March 2001). "Hollywood blacklist made writers into nobodies". Chicago Tribune.

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