An American writer who went to England to work for the U.S. Air Force in the mid-1950s and stayed on after his tour, John Briley is best known for writing the screenplay for "Gandhi", the 1982 epic which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Briley's first writing was actually in public relations for General Motors in his native Michigan. It was not until after her rejoined the Air Force in 1955 and was sent to England for five years as director of orientation at a base there that he took up writing full-time. Briley was a staff writer with MGM in Elstree, England, from 1960-64,
