The Universe 5th August 2016

u • PROFILE 08 FRIDAY 05.08.16
22 dates
with Dahl
‘Those who don’t believe in magic,
will never find it’, read the final lines
in Roald Dahl’s last ever children’s
book, The Minpins – and the literary
legend certainly lived by his word.
Injecting a sparkle into all who encountered
his work, the late author -
known for whimsical tales such as
Matilda and Charlie And The Chocolate
Factory – would have celebrated
his 100th birthday this September,
and a whole
host of programmes
and events have
been scheduled to
commemorate
the anniversary –
not to mention
the imminent release
of Steven
Spielberg’s bigscreen
adaptation of
The BFG (right).
On the small screen, BBC
Two’s recent focal documentary The
Marvellous World Of Roald Dahl
delved into the writer’s life. Here are
some facts about the much-adored
children’s writer...
1
Born on 13th September, 1916,
in Llandaff, Cardiff, to Norwegian
parents Harald and Sofie, Dahl –
named after the Norwegian polar explorer
Roald Amundsen – grew up
speaking Norwegian as his first
language, along with his
three sisters.
In 1920, when
Dahl was
three, he lost his
seven-year-old sister
and father to appendicitis
and pneumonia
respectively. At seven
years old, he was sent to
The Cathedral School,
Llandaff, where he was caned
for putting a dead mouse in a jar of
gobstoppers at the now infamous Mrs
Pratchett’s sweet shop.
3
u
profile
By Gemma Dunn
2
He later attended Repton
School in Derbyshire, where
Dahl developed a fascination with
chocolate (each term, the students
would be sent a box of 12 Cadbury
chocolate bars to test). It was this
that inspired his delicious tale, Charlie
And The Chocolate Factory.
4
Dahl famously criticised
the 1971 movie adaptation
of the book (Willy
Wonka & The Chocolate
Factory), in particular
believing Gene Wilder’s
version of Willy Wonka
(right) to be too ‘pretentious’
and ‘bouncy’, and not
nearly eccentric enough.
5
After finishing school in 1934,
Dahl worked for Shell, which
saw him relocate to Africa, where he
experienced encounters with the
likes of black mambas and other
wildlife. It’s these memories,
illustrator Quentin Blake
has said, that encouraged
Dahl’s book The Enormous
Crocodile.
6
In 1939, he enlisted
in the RAF
as a WWII aircraftman. In
1940, his plane crash-landed in
the Libya desert and Dahl suffered
life-changing injuries that saw him
hospitalised for six months.
7
A year after being discharged
in 1941, he was posted to the
British Embassy in Washington D.C.
as an assistant air attache. Here, he
encountered his hero, writer C.S.
Forester, which led to the publication
of his first short story, Shot Down
Over Libya (also known as A Piece
Of Cake).
8
Dahl also supplied intelligence,
working as a spy (although he
preferred not to call it that) for Winston
Churchill. It was in this role that