First I want to say Happy 95th Birthday to my grandma!
No onto the post.
What many people don't know is that Dahl didn't just write children's books. He wasn't just a children's author. A fabulous one he was, but that's not all he was. He's also written poetry, non-fiction titles, two adult/regular novels, a good number of short story collections, some film scripts, and some television scripts.
Ten Facts about Roald Dahl:
- Born Sept. 13, 1916 in Wales.
- 1920, sister died from appendicitis, a few months later his father died from pnuemonia.
- Got a job with Shell Petroleum instead of attending university against his mother's wishes.
- Served in the British Royal Air Force during WWII as a flying ace and intelligence officer.
- 1943, first published work is a children's book and film script, The Gremlins, written for Walt Disney.
- Married for 30 years to actress Patricia Neal from 1953-1983. They had five children together.
- Married his ex-wife's former best friend, Felicity Ann d'Abreu Crosland.
- Based the character of the grandmother in The Witches on his mother as a tribute.
- Died Nov. 23, 1990 in Oxford England of a blood disease called myelo-dysplastic anemia.
- Upon his death he was still working on The Vicar of Nibbleswick, My Year, and The Roald Dahl Cookbook.
Children's Books and Poetry:
The Gremlins (1943)
James and the Giant Peach (1961)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)
The Magic Finger (1966)
Fantastic Mr Fox (1970)
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972)
Danny, the Champion of the World (1975)
The Enormous Crocodile (1978)
George's Marvellous Medicine (1978)
Revolting Rhymes (1982)
The BFG (1982)
The Witches (1983)
Dirty Beasts (1984)
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (1985)
Matilda (1988)
Esio Trot (1989)
Rhyme Stew (1989)
The Vicar of Nibbleswick (1990)
The Minpins (1991)
Nonfiction Work:
The Midlenhall Treasure (1946, 1977, 1999)
Boy--Tales of Childhood (1984)
Going Solo (1986)
Measles, a Dangerous Illness (1988)
Memories with Food at Gipsy House (1991)
Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety (1991)
My Year (1993)
Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes (1994)
Roald Dahl's Even More Revolting Recipes (2001)
Adult Novels:
Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen (1948)
My Uncle Oswald (1979)
Film Scripts:
The Gremlins (1943)
36 Hours (1965)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
The Night Digger (1971)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Television Scripts:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1958)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Dip in the Pool" (1958)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Poison" (1958)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Man From the South" (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat" (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Landlady" (1961)
Way Out (1961) also hosted
Tales of the Unexpected (1979-1988) wrote and introduced episodes
For more information check out these sites:
Fantastic!!! I love learning about authors, and surprised that I was less familiar with Dahl and his many works. Who knew?! Thanks for the great post!!!
ReplyDeleteOh, and thanks for visiting my blog yesterday. You WON the bookmark. :) email me your mailing address at authorkarenadair at blogspot dot com so I can send it out. Congrats!!
Thank you. I was surprised at what I didn't know about Dahl after doing this research. I knew some from my Children's Lit class, but I didn't know about his TV ventures.
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