Roald
Dahl is a much beloved children’ writer. Creating not only ‘The Witches’ but ‘Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and many more besides
that. He was also much more than this over the course of his life. He was a
spy, an ace fighter pilot, a chocolate historian, and a medical inventor.
Dahl
was born in Llandaff, Wales, 1916. Born to Norwegian parents Dahl was named
after Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole just four years
earlier. Roald Amundsen just so happened to also be a Norwegian.
Dahl’s
early years would also be marred by tragedy with the deaths of his older sister
and father. It is following on from these tragic events that Dahl met his idol,
Beatrix Potter. A fellow children’s author it could be said that Potter was one
of the reasons Dahl became such a prolific storyteller.This meeting has even been made into a film. You can find out more by clicking below.
Tales
of Dahl’s time in boarding school are recounted in his book ‘Boy’ and is said
to be the inspiration behind ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ as pupils at
Repton were invited to trial chocolate bars.
Upon
the start of World War Two Dahl enlisted in the Royal Air Force at 23.
Eventually ending up in Washington, America supplying intelligence to MI6. It
was due to his posting in America that Dahl met and married his wife in 1953, actress
Patricia Neal. They went on to have five children together and divorced after
thirty years. Dahl’s second wife was Felicity Crosland. Felicity has continued
Dahl’s legacy by the creation of Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity and
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre.
In
1960 Roald helped invent the Wade-Dahl-Till valve, prompted by the need to
alleviate the head injuries endured by his son after an accident in New York.
It
is after this that we see the arrival of some of Dahl’s literary works. 1961
was marked by ‘James and the Giant Peach’. Swiftly followed by ‘Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory’. 1970 brought forth ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ and the rest of that
decade includes ‘Danny Champion of the World’ and ‘The Enormous Crocodile’. Not
only did Dahl write some of the best loved children’s books. He wrote the
screenplay for the James Bond movie ‘You Only Live Twice’ and for ‘Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang’. The 70’s also saw the world acquire it’s first screen
adaptation of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.
Unfortunately,
these bursts of literary genius did not continue into the 90’s. With Dahls
passing in November 1990 aged 74. The Buckinghamshire village, Great Missenden
lies as his final resting place as well as the area where his legacy continues
in ‘The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre’.
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