Leigh Brackett (December 7, 1915, in Los Angeles, California – March 18, 1978) was a writer of science fiction, mystery novels and — best known to the general public — Hollywood screenplays, most notably The Big Sleep (1945), Rio Bravo (1959), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Brackett's first published science fiction story was "Martian Quest", which appeared in the February 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.