Anita Loos (1889-1981) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and actress. Born in California, she started her career as an actress, but even from a young age she contributed pieces to various periodicals and ended up becoming a professional screenwriter by the age of twenty. She married the writer-director John Emerson in 1919, and together they began writing and producing their own films. Loos is best known for her novel Gentleman Prefer Blondes, which inspired a play, two musicals, and two films, and was translated into fourteen languages.