Ayn Rand was an American author, philosopher, and creator of the philosophy of Objectivism. She is best known for her novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and for developing the philosophy of Objectivism. Born in Russia, Rand moved to the United States in 1926. She worked as a screenwriter for Cecil B. DeMille and began writing her first novel, The Fountainhead, in 1938. The book was published in 1943 and became a bestseller. Rand's philosophy of Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that humans act in accordance with their own rational self-interest, and that the only moral purpose of life is the pursuit of one's own happiness. She died of lung cancer on March 6, 1982, at the age of 77.