Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl net worth is $10 Million. Also know about Roald Dahl bio, salary, height, age weight, relationship and more …

Roald Dahl Wiki Biography

Roald Dahl was born on the 13th September 1916, in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, UK, and was a British novelist, screenwriter, poet, and fighter pilot, but best known as a children’s book author with such stories as “The Gremlins” (1943), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (1964), “Fantastic Mr Fox” (1970), and “Matilda” (1988). Dahl won the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 1983 and the British Book Awards’ Children’s Author of the Year in 1990. His career started in 1942, and ended with his passing in 1990.

Have you ever wondered how rich Roald Dahl was at the time of his death? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Dahl’s net worth was as high as $10 million, an amount earned largely through his successful career as a writer.

Roald Dahl was a son of Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Norwegian parents who immigrated to the UK from Sarpsborg, Norway and married in 1911. He grew up in Wales with his three sisters and went to the Cathedral School in Llandaff before being transferred to the St Peter’s in Weston-super-Mare, a boarding school in England. In 1929, Roald moved to Repton School in Derbyshire, where he played a number of sports, including football, golf, cricket, and was a captain of the squash team.

In 1934 Dahl started working for the Shell Petroleum Company, and was stationed in Mombasa, Kenya, and then in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania). In August 1939 Roald was commissioned a lieutenant in the King’s African Rifles, and the following November he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), and trained in Kenya and Iraq. In September 1940, he was forced to land in the Libyan desert, crashing and fracturing his skull and was temporarily blinded. The next year, he took part in the “Battle of Athens” when the RAF collided with German air crafts. Roald was shipped home in 1942 and then he became the assistant air attaché at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. He ultimately honourably discharged in 1946, as an ace – five aircraft shot down – and as a Wing Commander.

In 1942, Dahl published his first short story called “A Piece of Cake” after The Saturday Evening Post bought it for $1,000. In 1943, he wrote his first novel entitled “The Gremlins”, while he also continued with short stories such as “Beware of the Dog” (1944) and “Man from the South”, before publishing his second novel “Sometime Never: A Fable for Supermen” (1948). In the ‘50s, Dahl continued to work with such stories as “Poison” (1950), “Dip in the Pool” (1952), “Skin” (1952), “Lamb to the Slaughter” (1953), and “Nunc Dimittis” (1953). Roald also wrote, “Edward the Conqueror” (1953), “Parson’s Pleasure” (1958), “The Landlady” (1959), and “Genesis and Catastrophe: A True Story” (1959).

In the ‘60s, Dahl wrote three more novels: “James and the Giant Peach” (1961), “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (1964), and “The Magic Finger” (1966). In 1970, he published “Fantastic Mr Fox”, while two years after, Roald wrote “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator”. By the end of the ‘70s, Dahl had released two children’s and one adult book: “Danny, the Champion of the World “ (1975), “The Enormous Crocodile” (1978), and “My Uncle Oswald” (1979). From then until the moment of his death, Dahl published only children books such as “The Twits” (1980), “The Witches” (1983), and “Matilda” (1988).

Roald also wrote several television and movie scripts, including “You Only Live Twice” (1967) starring Sean Connery, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” (1968), “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971) with Gene Wilder, and “The Night Digger” (1971). Additionally, Dahl wrote three poems: “Revolting Rhymes” (1982), “Dirty Beasts” (1984), and “Rhyme Stew” (1989). All contributed to his net worth.

Regarding his personal life, Roald Dahl was married to American actress Patricia Neal from July 1953 to 1983 and they had five children. He was then married to Felicity Ann d’Abreu Crosland until he died on the 23rd November 1990 in Oxford, of a blood disease, a myelodysplastic syndrome.

IMDB Wikipedia $10 million 1916 1916-9-13 1990 1990-11-23 6′ 6″ (1.98 m) Actor Alfhild Dahl Asta Dahl Astri Dahl British Cardiff Chantal Tessa Sophia Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Else Dahl Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Felicity Ann d’Abreu Crosland Felicity d’Abreu Crosland m. 1983–1990 Harald Dahl Llandaff Louis Dahl Lucy Dahl Matilda (1996) November 23 Olivia Twenty Olivia Twenty Dahl Ophelia Dahl Oxford Patricia Neal m. 1953–1983 Repton School Roald Dahl Roald Dahl Net Worth September 13 Sofie Magdalene Dahl Soundtrack St Peter’s Tessa Dahl The Cathedral School Theo Matthew ; Ophelia Magdalena Theo Matthew Dahl UK United Kingdom Virgo Wales Weston-super-Mare Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) Writer

Roald Dahl Quick Info

Full Name Roald Dahl
Net Worth $10 Million
Date Of Birth September 13, 1916
Died November 23, 1990, Oxford, United Kingdom
Place Of Birth Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Height 6′ 6″ (1.98 m)
Profession Writer, Actor, Soundtrack
Education The Cathedral School, Llandaff, St Peter’s, Weston-super-Mare, Repton School
Nationality British
Spouse Felicity d’Abreu Crosland (m. 1983–1990), Patricia Neal (m. 1953–1983)
Children Lucy Dahl, Tessa Dahl, Theo Matthew Dahl, Ophelia Dahl, Olivia Twenty Dahl
Parents Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Harald Dahl
Siblings Astri Dahl, Alfhild Dahl, Else Dahl, Asta Dahl, Louis Dahl
IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001094/
Awards World Fantasy Award—Life Achievement, Edgar Award for Best Short Story, Edgar Award for Best Television Episode Teleplay, CableACE Award for International Children’s Programming Special or Series
Nominations Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Primetime Emmy Award for Best Writing of a Single Program of a Dramatic Series – Less Than One Hour
Movies Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, The Witches, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Danny, the Champion of the World, You Only Live Twice, James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, 36 Hours, Four Rooms, The Night Digger, Inaudit…
TV Shows Tales of the Unexpected, Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries, Way Out

Roald Dahl Trademarks

  1. Bizarre, dark sense of humor
  2. Protagonists who escape abusive adults through fantastical or unbelievable means
  3. Often made up nonsense words like “Mugglewump”, “Vermicious Knids”, “Oompa Loompa”, “Fleshlump eater”, etc.
  4. His books all contain illustrations by Quentin Blake
  5. His villains are often extremely ugly
  6. Orphans; James from James and the Giant Peach, the main character from The Witches and Sophie from The BFG.
  7. Villains are often adults who hate children
  8. Main characters are often children.
  9. Gluttonous characters: Augustus Gloop from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Bruno Jenkins from The Witches, Boggis from Fantastic Mr Fox and Bruce Bogtrotter from Matilda.

Roald Dahl Quotes

  • [his novel Over to You] Ten stories of flyers and flying.
  • My faults and foibles are legion.
  • A writer of fiction lives in fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not.
  • A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom.
  • A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
  • [1988 interview with Todd McCormack] When you’re writing a book, with people in it as opposed to animals, it is no good having people who are ordinary, because they are not going to interest your readers at all. Every writer in the world has to use the characters that have something interesting about them and this is even more true in children’s books. I find that the only way to make my characters really interesting to children is to exaggerate all their good or bad qualities, and so if a person is nasty or bad or cruel, you make them very nasty, very bad, very cruel. If they are ugly, you make them extremely ugly. That, I think, is fun and makes an impact.
  • [when asked what the his formula for success was as an author of children’s books] Conspiring with children against adults.

Roald Dahl Important Facts

  • On a table near to his right hand, when he was sitting in his chair in his writing shed, he had collected all sorts of memorabilia; various things sent to him by fans or schoolchildren, a ball of silver paper from bars of chocolate which he had collected over the years since he was a young man and a part of his own hip bone that had been removed from him.
  • The unauthorized biography of Dahl by Jeremy Treglown was extremely unfavorable to him, claiming that he was a snob, very selfish and rude, a serial adulterer during his marriage to Patricia Neal, ungrateful and a virulent anti-Semite. His penchant for extra-marital affairs was confirmed by Neal in a television interview after his death, but his children defended him against the majority of Treglown’s charges, and he had another champion (with reservations) in Dirk Bogarde, who played him in a TV movie and reviewed Treglown’s book unfavorably in the London “Daily Telegraph” (concluding famously with the words, “He wasn’t really such a shit, you know”).
  • During the last year of his life he compiled a book of anecdotes and recipes with his wife Liccy Dahl under his regular publisher Penguin in 1996 as his Cookbook.
  • “Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator” has never been made into a film; he refused to sell the rights after his profound disappointment with Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). “The Magic Finger” has never been made into a film either, or “George’s Marvellous Medicine”, but a film of “The Twits” is, as of this writing, in production.
  • His short story “Only This: may have inspired the climax of the Steven Spielberg film Always (1989), in which Pete’s spirit guides Durinda to land a plane while in the cockpit with her.
  • He wrote for adults, too.
  • His TV series Tales of the Unexpected (1979) dramatized a selection of his short stories.
  • “The Witches” won the 1983 Whitbread Award.
  • His stories are highly acclaimed and widely translated and have become worldwide bestsellers. One of the most successful and well known of all children’s writers, his books are read by children everywhere.
  • He has written two autobiographies, “Boy” and “Going Solo”.
  • He lost the use of his eyes during World War II but regained his sight in recovery.
  • Dahl was badly wounded in Libya during World War II, but he served in the RAF in Greece and Syria. His book Over to You draws on those experiences and friends and colleagues to convey the bizarre reality of a pilot’s existence and the daily possibility of death.
  • The Times described Dahl as “one of the most widely read and influential writers of our generation” and wrote in its obituary, “children loved his stories and made him their favorite . . . they will be classics of the future”.
  • His novel “My Uncle Oswald” was much praised and edited his Book of Ghost Stories.
  • At the start of World War II, Dahl enlisted in the RAF at Nairobi. Kenya. He was severely wounded after joining a fighter squadron in Libya, but later saw service as a fighter pilot in Greece and Syria. In 1942 he went to Washington as Assistant Air Attaché, where he started to write, and then transferred to Intelligence, ending the war as a wing commander. His first 12 short stories, based on his wartime experiences, were originally published in leading American magazines and then as a book, “Over to You”, which draws on those experiences and friends and colleagues to convey the bizarre reality of a pilot’s existence and the daily possibility of death.
  • His WWII novel “Over to You” was published in a magazine in 1946 and then as a book in 1973. The stories in “Over to You” were published in “The Saturday Evening Post”, “Tomorrow”, “Harper’s Magazine”, “Ladies’ Home Journal” and “Town and Country”. “Over to You” doesn’t refer to anyone in particular, the pilots are not the names of people he knew, and when Dahl says “I” that doesn’t mean he’s talking about himself. The book was based on his wartime experiences, and he speaks with some respect for the German pilots in the book.
  • Fellow author Neil Gaiman has been likened to a Dahl for his generation, because they both wrote dark fantasies as if they were true, and they shared the ability to remind a reader of what it was like to be a child.
  • His parents were Norwegian, but he was born in Llandaff, Glamorgan, in 1916 and educated at Repton School.
  • Was portrayed by Dirk Bogarde in the made-for-TV movie The Patricia Neal Story (1981).
  • Had an interest in photography and often carried a camera around with him.
  • Was never seen as a particularly talented writer in his school years, with one of his English teachers writing in his school report, “I have never met anybody who so persistently writes words meaning the exact opposite of what is intended”.
  • Died three months after The Witches (1990), based on his book, was released.
  • His short story “Beware Of The Dog” is officially the basis for the film 36 Hours (1964), although the plot is much altered and extended. According to one of the biographies of Dahl, the film was written without reference to him or his story, and it was only after the leading female role in the film was offered to his then wife Patricia Neal that he learned of the film at all. The similarity between the script and his original plot was obvious, and, with a great deal of money already invested, MGM was in no mood to be sued by Dahl for plagiarism. It quickly agreed to pay him a large sum of money for the film rights to his short story and gave him appropriate credit (Eva Marie Saint took the female lead in the film).
  • Honored by a set of British commemorative postage stamps issued 10 January 2012. The stamps feature illustrations by Quentin Blake, which were originally used in the following children’s books by Dahl: “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, “The Twits”, “The Witches”, “James and the Giant Peach”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “Matilda”, and “The BFG”.
  • Enjoyed betting on horse races, even though he usually lost.
  • Had a bad back, which caused him to become ill-tempered.
  • Loved to eat chocolate, and admitted that he ate too much of it.
  • In the company of adults, he became bored quite quickly.
  • Enjoyed drinking both whiskey and wine in the evenings.
  • He fathered five children, four daughters and one son with first wife, Patricia Neal: Olivia Twenty Dahl was born on Wednesday, April 20, 1955, and she died from measles on Saturday, November 17, 1962. His second daughter was born on Thursday, April 11, 1957, named Tessa Dahl. His only son was the third of five, Theo Matthew Roald Dahl was born on Saturday, July 30, 1960, aka Theo Dahl. Third daughter, Ophelia Magdalena Dahl, was born on Tuesday, May 12, 1964, aka Ophelia Dahl, and Lucy Neal Dahl was born on Wednesday, August 4, 1965, aka Lucy Dahl.
  • When his first wife, Patricia Neal, started suffering a series of devastating strokes in 1965, he was appalled at the lack of effective rehabilitation. He subsequently designed techniques that restored her to full functionality after doctors had told him she would never recover. His techniques are now standard procedure throughout the world in the treatment of stroke victims.
  • His only son, Theo Dahl, suffered a brain injury when his baby carriage was struck by a taxi when the boy was just four months old. The most serious of his injuries was hydrocephalus (commonly known as water on the brain). Dahl got together with a pair of friends–a neurosurgeon and an engineer–and created a device called the Wade-Dahl-Till valve to alleviate cranial pressure. Theo recovered before the device was perfected, but it allowed thousands of others suffering from hydrocephalus to recover from their injuries. His book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is dedicated to Theo, who almost died.
  • He strongly disliked Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), which was based upon his children’s classic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. He felt it made the story world, which he had created, too peaceful, to his personality.
  • Flew Hawker Hurricanes in 80 Squadron in WWII.
  • In one of Dahl’s short stories, “Beware of the Dog,” a fighter pilot is shot down during wartime and loses one of his legs. He recovers in a hospital only to discover that he is in Nazi-occupied France. Although the story is based on Dahl’s WWII experiences, it is not entirely autobiographical; Dahl did crash his plane, but did not lose a leg or become a prisoner of war.
  • Wrote two screenplays based on books by Ian Fleming: You Only Live Twice (1967) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). Coincidentally, Fleming’s cousin, Christopher Lee, appears in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), based on Dahl’s book. He also appears in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), which is named after a word Dahl coined.
  • He replaced Richard Maibaum as screenwriter for You Only Live Twice (1967) at the last minute. Maibaum returned to the chair in 1969.
  • He allegedly declined to receive an O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in 1986.
  • Wrote his novels in his garden shed.
  • Daughter, Olivia, died of the measles at age 7.
  • Father died of pneumonia when Roald was 3.
  • Nearly lost his nose in a car accident.
  • The Helga (Luke’s grandmother) character in “The Witches” was based on his own Norwegian grandmother, who he said was a tough and fearless woman.
  • Credited with coining the term “Gremlin” during the Second World War. These were little “creatures who lived inside fighter plane engines, causing them to stall at the worst possible time.
  • Grandfather of British model Sophie Dahl and Chloe Dahl.
  • Parents were Norwegian

Roald Dahl Filmography

Title Year Status Character Role
You Only Live Twice 1967 screenplay Writer
Teatterituokio 1967 TV Series short story “Taste” – 1 episode Writer
Thirty-Minute Theatre TV Series story – 2 episodes, 1965 writer – 1 episode, 1967 Writer
Des Pfarrers Freude 1966 TV Movie story Writer
36 Hours 1964 story “Beware of the Dog” Writer
That Was the Week That Was 1962 TV Series Writer
‘Way Out 1961 TV Series writer – 1 episode Writer
Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV Series story – 5 episodes, 1958 – 1960 writer – 1 episode, 1961 teleplay – 1 episode, 1958 Writer
Rendezvous 1959 TV Series short story – 1 episode Writer
Suspicion 1958 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Le coup du berger 1956 Short story – uncredited Writer
Cameo Theatre 1955 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Star Tonight 1955 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Danger 1954 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
The Philip Morris Playhouse 1954 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Lux Video Theatre 1952 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
CBS Television Workshop 1952 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Suspense 1950 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
The BFG 2016 book Writer
Lamb to the Slaughter 2016 Short novel Writer
Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot 2015 TV Movie based on the novel by Writer
Baa Baa Black Sheep 2013 Short story Writer
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in the Playroom 2012 Video short book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” – uncredited Writer
Bang-lure 2012 Short story Writer
Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 novel Writer
Three Little Pigs 2008 Short writer Writer
Jackanory Junior 2007 TV Series Writer
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 book Writer
Imagine 2005 TV Series documentary quotations – 1 episode Writer
The Bet 2005/I Short story Writer
Lamb to the Slaughter 2002 story Writer
Genesis and Catastrophe 2000 Short story Writer
Inaudito 1999 Short story Writer
Matilda 1996 book Writer
James and the Giant Peach 1996 based on the book by Writer
Pisvingers! 1995 Short story “The Swan” Writer
Jackanory TV Series book – 10 episodes, 1968 novel – 6 episodes, 1979 – 1995 Writer
Idealnaya para 1992 stories Writer
The Witches 1990 book Writer
Dirty Beasts 1990 TV Movie Writer
Shekare khamoosh 1990 novel Writer
The BFG 1989 TV Movie novel Writer
Breaking Point 1989 TV Movie novel “Beware of the Dog” Writer
Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World 1989 TV Movie novel Writer
Tales of the Unexpected TV Series writer – 15 episodes, 1979 – 1981 story – 11 episodes, 1979 – 1988 Writer
Alfred Hitchcock Presents 1985 TV Series story – 1 episode Writer
Kalle och chokladfabriken 1983 TV Mini-Series novel Writer
Hundert Mark 1975 TV Series writer – 1 episode Writer
Uit de wereld van Roald Dahl 1975 TV Series story – 5 episodes Writer
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory 1971 book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” / screenplay Writer
The Night Digger 1971 Writer
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 1968 screenplay Writer
Late Night Horror 1968 TV Series writer – 1 episode Writer
‘Way Out 1961 TV Series Host Actor
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 2005 lyrics: “Augustus Gloop”, “Violet Beauregarde”, “Veruca Salt”, “Mike Teavee” Soundtrack
James and the Giant Peach 1996 lyrics: “Eating The Peach” Soundtrack
This Is Not My Beautiful House 2007 Short thanks Thanks
Tales of the Unexpected: The Proposal 2003 Short with apologies to Thanks
Four Rooms 1995 special thanks Thanks
Going Live! 1989 TV Series Himself Self
Danny and the Dirty Dog: The Making of ‘Roald Dahl’s Danny the Champion of the World’ 1989 TV Movie documentary Himself Self
Tales of the Unexpected 1979-1985 TV Series Himself – Introduced by Self
This Is Your Life 1978 TV Series documentary Himself Self
Read All About It 1978 TV Series Himself Self
Uit de wereld van Roald Dahl 1975 TV Series Himself Self
The 41st Annual Academy Awards 1969 TV Special Himself – Audience Member Self
‘Way Out 1961 TV Series Himself – Host Self
The Marvellous World of Roald Dahl 2016 TV Movie documentary Himself Archive Footage
Timeshift 2015 TV Series documentary Himself – Novellist and Writer of ‘You Only Live Twice’ Archive Footage
Wogan: The Best Of 2015 TV Series Himself Archive Footage
Breakfast 2011 TV Series Himself – Author Archive Footage
Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rule Book 2007 TV Movie documentary Himself Archive Footage
There’s Something About… Dahl 2007 TV Movie documentary Himself Archive Footage
The Story of Jackanory 2007 TV Movie documentary Himself – Author Archive Footage
Premiere Bond: Opening Nights 2006 Video documentary short Himself Archive Footage
Imagine 2005 TV Series documentary Himself Archive Footage
Pure Imagination: The Story of ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ 2001 Video documentary short Himself, author of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ Archive Footage
Inside ‘You Only Live Twice’ 2000 Video documentary short Himself Archive Footage

Roald Dahl Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie Category
1993 CableACE CableACE Awards International Children’s Programming Special or Series Dirty Beasts (1990) Won
1980 Edgar Edgar Allan Poe Awards Best Television Episode Tales of the Unexpected (1979) Won
1993 CableACE CableACE Awards International Children’s Programming Special or Series Dirty Beasts (1990) Nominated
1980 Edgar Edgar Allan Poe Awards Best Television Episode Tales of the Unexpected (1979) Nominated