Dame Daphne u Maurier, Lady Browning DBE (13 May 1907–19 April 1989) (IPA: [ˈdæfnɪ du ˈmɒɹieɪ]), was a famous British novelist, playwright and short story writer. Many of her works were adapted into films, such as one of her most famous books, Rebecca, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1940 for director Alfred Hitchcock, who would later bring her short story, The Birds, onto the big screen.