Roald Dahl

His parents were Norwegian, but he was born in Llandaff, Glamorgan, in 1916 and educated at Repton School.

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.

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.

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).

When his first wife, Patricia Neal, suffered 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.

He replaced Richard Maibaum as screenwriter for You Only Live Twice (1967) at the last minute. Maibaum returned to the chair in 1969.

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.

His TV series Tales of the Unexpected (1979) dramatized a selection of his short stories.

Was portrayed by Dirk Bogarde in the made-for-TV movie The Patricia Neal Story (1981).

He allegedly declined to receive an O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in 1986.

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.

Died three months after The Witches (1990), based on his book, was released.

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.

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".