Roald Dahl Biography:
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, South Whales, on September 13 1916. As a child, he spent his summer vacations visiting with his grandparents in Oslo. When Dahl was just four years old his father passed away from pneumonia. Dahl went Llandaff Cathedral School, but when he received a harsh beating for playing a practical joke, Dahl’s mother decided to enroll him at St. Peter’s which was a British boarding school. He then transferred to Repton, a private school with a reputation for academic excellence. Dahl then went on to college in Repton and graduated in 1932 and took a job with the Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa, where he remained until 1939. In 1939 he then joined the Royal Air Force; he eventually became a World War II fighter pilot. When he was serving in Mediterranean Dahl crashed his plane resulting in serious injuries to his skull, spine and hip. After his recovery from a hip replacement and two spinal surgeries he was transferred to Washington D.C., where he became an assistant air attaché. When in Washington D.C., he met author C.S. Forrester, who eventually encouraged him to start writing. Shortly after, Dahl published his first short story in the Saturday Evening Post. He went on to write stories in The New Yorker. In 1953 he married his wife Patricia Neal, a famous actress, and had 5 children with her. In the same year he published his best-selling story collection Someone Like you and Kiss, Kiss in 1959. Dahl told his children bedtime stories every night which inspired him to become a children’s writer. These stories became the basis for some of his most popular children’s books. Dahl and wife Neal eventually divorced in 1983 and soon after remarried Felicity Ann Crosland in 1990. In 1961 Dahl published his first children’s book James and the Giant Peach and three years later Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released, and eventually turned into two popular movies. Dahl Wrote 19 children’s book and passed away on November 23rd, 1990 in oxford from a blood disease called myelodysplastic syndrome. |
End note 1:
When doing this genre I learned a lot about the life of Roald Dahl and how he become such a famous author. The audience for this genre is anyone that is interested in learning a little bit more about him and his life. I chose to do a biography about him because I thought it was an important piece to have on his website and because his background is important to how he started writing. Heidi. |