Willy Wonka Was Nothing Compared to his Creator
The Amazing Life of Author Roald Dahl
Everyone knows the timeless children's tale of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the magic candy man, Willy Wonka. As part of the Family Adventure Series, The Kennedy Center's Willy Wonka takes the Great Hall stage on Wednesday, December 7 at 7 p.m. If you happen to be a hermit or a visitor from another galaxy and are not familiar with Willy Wonka, do yourself a favor and any young people in your life and take in this tale of dreams come true that continues to delight young and old alike.
So, assuming we all know the story, let's not waste time and space rehashing. Rather, let's examine the author of this children's tale and many others, who is likely unknown to many of you…or at least the fascinating details of his life are, even if you do know his name. Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Llandaff, Wales. He was the only son born to Norwegian parents. His father and eldest sister died when Roald was just three. His mother was the stabilizing force in his life and greatly influenced his story telling abilities as she was a great teller of tales.
As a boy, Roald was not a particularly happy student. He attended a Catholic school and his primary memories are those of lingering outside the local sweet shop with his classmates, gazing at the giant jars of goodies and candies. Here the seeds of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were first planted.
At the age of 18, rather than heading off to college, Roald went exploring in Newfoundland and then became a salesman for Shell in Tanzania, Africa. When war broke out, the 23 year old Roald signed up with the Royal Air Force in Nairobi. His gangly height of 6 ft. 6 inches should have precluded him from piloting the Gladiator fighters, but manpower being what it was he was accepted. He spent his training period mainly in Iraq and then flew to join his squadron in Libya, crashing en-route.
In his autobiography, Going Solo, he tells of having a luger pointed at his head by a German soldier, sustaining injuries during a crash landing that required extensive surgery on his nose and surviving a direct hit in the Battle of Athens. He eventually was sent home as an invalid but transferred to Washington, D.C. as an attaché for the Royal Air Force. It was in D.C. that Roald would meet a writer that would set him on the course that would define his life as an author.
Enter C.S. Forester who coaxed Roald to write of his war experience for the Saturday Evening Post. After receiving the article, Forester wrote back to Roald, "Did you know you were a writer? I haven't changed a word." Included was a check for $900. The birth of an author was cemented. After several years penning adult stories, Roald began focusing on children's books after making up bedtime stories for his daughters Olivia and Tessa. James and the Giant Peach was published in 1961 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory followed in1964.
The mother of Roald's five children and his first wife was the famous American actress of Hollywood and Broadway, Patricia Neal. Neal starred opposite Paul Newman in Hud, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Roald's life, while steeped with many successes, was also burdened with many great tragedies. Olivia died at the age of seven from encephalitis and his four month old son, Theo was brain damaged after a road accident. Never turning bitter, Roald joined with two friends, an engineer and a neurosurgeon and developed a valve for draining fluid from Theo's brain, enabling him to live independent of machines. The Dahl-Wade-Till valve was used for many years until it was surpassed by new technologies.
In 1965, Patricia suffered three strokes in rapid succession while pregnant with their daughter Lucy. She was only 39 years old and couldn't move or speak. Roald took over her rehabilitation and running the house and designed a regiment of six hour long speech therapy every day for the remainder of her pregnancy. Patricia made a full recovery and gave birth to a healthy baby and returned to her acting career.
In 1990, Roald was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, Myelo-dysplastic-anaemia. Of his illness he said, "I've been a bit off color these last few months, feeling sleepy when I shouldn't and without that lovely old bubbly energy that drives one to write books, drink gin and chase girls." He died November 23, 1990 at the age of 74, working to the end on three more books, including the Roald Dahl Cookbook. Since his death over 40 million copies of his books have sold in the U.K. alone.
The Amazing Life of Author Roald Dahl
Everyone knows the timeless children's tale of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the magic candy man, Willy Wonka. As part of the Family Adventure Series, The Kennedy Center's Willy Wonka takes the Great Hall stage on Wednesday, December 7 at 7 p.m. If you happen to be a hermit or a visitor from another galaxy and are not familiar with Willy Wonka, do yourself a favor and any young people in your life and take in this tale of dreams come true that continues to delight young and old alike.
So, assuming we all know the story, let's not waste time and space rehashing. Rather, let's examine the author of this children's tale and many others, who is likely unknown to many of you…or at least the fascinating details of his life are, even if you do know his name. Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Llandaff, Wales. He was the only son born to Norwegian parents. His father and eldest sister died when Roald was just three. His mother was the stabilizing force in his life and greatly influenced his story telling abilities as she was a great teller of tales.
As a boy, Roald was not a particularly happy student. He attended a Catholic school and his primary memories are those of lingering outside the local sweet shop with his classmates, gazing at the giant jars of goodies and candies. Here the seeds of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory were first planted.
At the age of 18, rather than heading off to college, Roald went exploring in Newfoundland and then became a salesman for Shell in Tanzania, Africa. When war broke out, the 23 year old Roald signed up with the Royal Air Force in Nairobi. His gangly height of 6 ft. 6 inches should have precluded him from piloting the Gladiator fighters, but manpower being what it was he was accepted. He spent his training period mainly in Iraq and then flew to join his squadron in Libya, crashing en-route.
In his autobiography, Going Solo, he tells of having a luger pointed at his head by a German soldier, sustaining injuries during a crash landing that required extensive surgery on his nose and surviving a direct hit in the Battle of Athens. He eventually was sent home as an invalid but transferred to Washington, D.C. as an attaché for the Royal Air Force. It was in D.C. that Roald would meet a writer that would set him on the course that would define his life as an author.
Enter C.S. Forester who coaxed Roald to write of his war experience for the Saturday Evening Post. After receiving the article, Forester wrote back to Roald, "Did you know you were a writer? I haven't changed a word." Included was a check for $900. The birth of an author was cemented. After several years penning adult stories, Roald began focusing on children's books after making up bedtime stories for his daughters Olivia and Tessa. James and the Giant Peach was published in 1961 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory followed in1964.
The mother of Roald's five children and his first wife was the famous American actress of Hollywood and Broadway, Patricia Neal. Neal starred opposite Paul Newman in Hud, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Roald's life, while steeped with many successes, was also burdened with many great tragedies. Olivia died at the age of seven from encephalitis and his four month old son, Theo was brain damaged after a road accident. Never turning bitter, Roald joined with two friends, an engineer and a neurosurgeon and developed a valve for draining fluid from Theo's brain, enabling him to live independent of machines. The Dahl-Wade-Till valve was used for many years until it was surpassed by new technologies.
In 1965, Patricia suffered three strokes in rapid succession while pregnant with their daughter Lucy. She was only 39 years old and couldn't move or speak. Roald took over her rehabilitation and running the house and designed a regiment of six hour long speech therapy every day for the remainder of her pregnancy. Patricia made a full recovery and gave birth to a healthy baby and returned to her acting career.
In 1990, Roald was diagnosed with a rare blood disorder, Myelo-dysplastic-anaemia. Of his illness he said, "I've been a bit off color these last few months, feeling sleepy when I shouldn't and without that lovely old bubbly energy that drives one to write books, drink gin and chase girls." He died November 23, 1990 at the age of 74, working to the end on three more books, including the Roald Dahl Cookbook. Since his death over 40 million copies of his books have sold in the U.K. alone.
