Roald Dahl

@Writers, Family and Childhood

Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer and poet

Sep 13, 1916

BritishWelshWritersPoetsNovelistsShort Story WritersVirgo Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: September 13, 1916
  • Died on: November 23, 1990
  • Nationality: British, Welsh
  • Famous: Writers, Poets, Novelists, Short Story Writers
  • Spouses: Patricia Neal (m.1953–1983)
  • Siblings: Alfhild, Astri, Else
  • Childrens: Lucy Dahl, Olivia Twenty Dahl, Ophelia Dahl, Tessa Dahl, Theo Matthew Dahl

Roald Dahl born at

Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

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Birth Place

He married Patricia Neal, an Oscar-winning Hollywood actress, in 1953, at Trinity Church, New York City.

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Personal Life

The couple had five children – daughter Olivia Twenty (1955), daughter Chantal Tessa (1957), son Theo Matthew (1960), daughter Ophelia Magdalena (1964) and daughter Lucy Neal (1965).

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Personal Life

In 1960, his four-month old son, Theo, was severely injured when a taxi hit his baby carriage, leaving him with a brain injury called hydrocephalus. He recovered after undergoing a number of surgeries.

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Personal Life

Roald Dahl was born on September 16, 1916 in Llandaff, Cardiff, South Wales, as the third of five children, to Norwegian emigrants Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl.

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Childhood & Early Life

After his eldest sister Astri’s death, in 1920, followed by his father’s tragic death a few weeks later, his mother stayed back in Wales to get the kids educated at British schools as per Harald’s wish, instead of relocating back to Norway.

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Childhood & Early Life

He went to The Cathedral School, Llandaff, but due to his mischievous nature, his mother sent him to British-boarding St. Peter’s Preparatory School, Weston-super-Mare, in 1925.

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Childhood & Early Life

In 1929, he shifted to Repton School, Derbyshire, where he showed more interest in sports, excelling in football, squash and fives, apart from literature and photography.

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Childhood & Early Life

After completing his schooling in 1934, he took a job in Shell Petroleum Company in Mombasa, Kenya, after two years of training in the UK. Subsequently, he was transferred to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.

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Career

To accomplish his adventurous dreams, he entered Royal Air Force in 1939 as an aircraftsman. Upon completing his training in Nairobi, Kenya, he became an acting pilot officer.

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Career

During his term in the Mediterranean in 1940, his plane crashed in Fouka, Libya, injuring his spine and skull, crushing his nose and blinding him for days. He was operated for a hip replacement and underwent six spinal surgeries.

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Career

Following his treatment for months in the hospital, he was discharged fit in 1941 and resumed his flying duties in Athens, Greece. However, his recurring blinding headaches forced him to leave RAF and return to Britain.

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Career

In 1942, he went to Washington DC and became an assistant air attaché in the British Embassy, where he met novelist C.S. Forester and started his writing career with a short story for ‘The Saturday Evening Post’.

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Career

His second collection of short stories, ‘Someone Like You’, released in 1953, became a huge success.

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Major Works

In 1960, he developed a device called Wade-Dahl-Till (WDT) valve, which helped in treating thousands of children suffering from hydrocephalus, in reducing the cranial pressure.

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Major Works

His fourth book ‘Kiss Kiss’, a collection of short stories, was released in 1960 and became a bestseller on The New York Times list, with ‘Pig’ being its masterpiece.

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Major Works

Some of his best-selling children’s stories included ‘James and the Giant Peach’, ‘The Twits’, ‘Matilda’, ‘The Witches’, ‘George’s Marvelous Medicine’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘The BFG’, ‘The Magic Finger’, and ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’.

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Major Works

His highly acclaimed short story and novel collection for adults included ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, ‘The Smoker’, ‘My Uncle Oswald’, ‘Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories’, and ‘The Landlady’.

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Major Works