Roald Dahl's Early Life
Roald Dahl the British children’s author was born September 13, 1916 in Llandaff, Wales. He was the only son of the marriage and one of seven children. When he was only three years old his father and older sister died, leaving his mother and to raise six children by herself (Roald Dahl Biography). After his father's death his mother enrolled him in Llandaff Cathedral School where he was disciplined for playing a practical joke not long after his first day. A short time after the disciplinary action, Dahl's mother took him out and moved him to St. Peter’s, which was a boarding school at the time. This was her husband's wish, because St. Peter's had the reputation of being an excellent academic school. but the young, rambunctious, mischievous Dahl did not fit into that mold. He later transferred once again to Repton where he resented all the rules he was under, wishing only to be free and travel the world. After graduation from Repton he turned down the offer from his mother to pay for him to go on to Oxford or Cambridge University. Instead he went on a trip to Newfoundland in 1932. Upon his return he got a job for Shell Oil Company in Tanzania, Africa, where he worked for seven years (Roald Dahl) .
After his stint in the oil company he became a WWII fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force. He was stationed in the Mediterranean where he once had to crash land in Alexandria, Egypt. The landing left him with serious injuries to his skull, spine, and hip leading to a hip replacement and two spinal surgeries. He was then transferred to Washington DC where he became an assistant air attache. (Roald Dahl).
After his stint in the oil company he became a WWII fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force. He was stationed in the Mediterranean where he once had to crash land in Alexandria, Egypt. The landing left him with serious injuries to his skull, spine, and hip leading to a hip replacement and two spinal surgeries. He was then transferred to Washington DC where he became an assistant air attache. (Roald Dahl).
Early Writing Career
Once he was moved to Washington DC he met a writer who would influence him to begin his own writing career. C.S. Forester, a reporter for the Saturday Evening Post, wanted Dahl to write down his experiences from war for him to publish. Dahl did so in such a way that Forester wrote back that Dahl should become a writer because he had not had to change a bit of the piece. This marked the beginning of his writing career, with the article "Shot Down Over Libya" in 1942.
After writing short stories for newspapers for a year Dahl published his first children’s book The Gremlins with the help of Walt Disney. The book was not considered much of a childrens book but did catch the eye of Eleanor Roosevelt. Dahl soon became a frequent visitor of the White House because of Mrs. Roosevelt's support. His career in children’s books did not really take off until he and his wife had kids in the 1960’s (Roald Dahl Biography).
After writing short stories for newspapers for a year Dahl published his first children’s book The Gremlins with the help of Walt Disney. The book was not considered much of a childrens book but did catch the eye of Eleanor Roosevelt. Dahl soon became a frequent visitor of the White House because of Mrs. Roosevelt's support. His career in children’s books did not really take off until he and his wife had kids in the 1960’s (Roald Dahl Biography).
Family and Children's Books
Dahl and his wife Patricia Neal, an award winning actress, got married on July 2, 1953, a year later they purchased Little Whitefield farm house which he later renamed Gipsy House in England. The following year Dahl’s first daughter, Olivia, was born on April 20. Two years later on April 11 his second daughter Tessa was born and on July 30, 1960 the two had their first son, Theo (Howard). Around this time is when Dahl began to write his first childrens’ book. He got the ideas for them from the bedtime stories he made up for his daughters and son. Those stories eventually sparked enough ideas for Dahl to write James and the Giant Peach publishing it in the US in 1961 and six years later in the UK (Roald Dahl Biography). The publication of the book established Dahl as a children's book writer and was met with wide critical and commercial acclaim (Roald Dahl). The following year Dahl’s daughter Olivia died from measles encephalitis, which is measles along with swelling of the brain which leads to convulsions (Complications). Two years later he published Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was met with much success all over the world. The inspiration for the story came from his childhood days at Repton when Cadbury Chocolates would bring boxes of twelve candies for the boys to sample and critique (Howard). In 1971, Hollywood made the book come to life with the movie production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder. Dahl was not a fan of the film, but the movie was very popular (Roald Dahl Biography).
The books following his first two success were no different. The small hut at the bottom of his garden where he wrote all his books bloomed more best sellers with the publications of The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, Matilda, and Boy (Baldwin). In 1965 Patricia Neal suffered three strokes and was admitted into the hospital in February, three months later she was home and in August their daughter Sophie was born. The two separated in 1979, and later got a divorce in 1983. Dahl met Felicity Crosland in 1972 after growing up on the same street, the two become inseparable and married after his divorce (Roald Dahl Biography). The following year Boy came out and five years later Matilda was published and The BFG in 1989 (Howard).
The books following his first two success were no different. The small hut at the bottom of his garden where he wrote all his books bloomed more best sellers with the publications of The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, Matilda, and Boy (Baldwin). In 1965 Patricia Neal suffered three strokes and was admitted into the hospital in February, three months later she was home and in August their daughter Sophie was born. The two separated in 1979, and later got a divorce in 1983. Dahl met Felicity Crosland in 1972 after growing up on the same street, the two become inseparable and married after his divorce (Roald Dahl Biography). The following year Boy came out and five years later Matilda was published and The BFG in 1989 (Howard).
Death and Legacy
In 1990 everything turned for the worse in Dahl’s life. His usual routine of looking through his fan mail from 9:30 - 10:30, filling his thermos of coffee, writing till lunch and then returning to his cosy hut to write for another couple of hours on a yellow pad of paper in pencil was broken (Roald Dahl Biography). Dahl suffered an unspecified infection on November 12, 1990 and was admitted into John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. He died there eleven days later at the age of seventy-four. During his life-time he composed nineteen childrens’ books and nine short stories (Roald Dahl). Over his seventy-four year span he experienced many family tragedies, had two steel hips and six spinal operations (Baldwin). He was also a big contributor to charities and in his honor his widow, Felicity Crosland, established the Roald Dahl Foundation, which promotes literacy, and research in neurology and hematology. She chose each based on Dahl's life, literacy because all Dahl's life he fought to make reading more enjoyable, research in neurology because of the many cases that affected his family, and hematology because of his suffering from Myelo-dysplastic anemia (Roald Dahl Biography). He is now buried in the Churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church, Great Missenden (Baldwin).