“He understood children and identified with them.”
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Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".
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culture · British writer and poet (1916–1990) · screenwriter · novelist · autobiographer · poet · short story writer · children's writer · writer · fighter pilot · opinion journalist · also Roald Dahl, Wing Commander Roald Dahl, Dahl
Born 13 September 1916 · Died 23 November 1990 · Q25161
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2026· 13 entries
“A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.”
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“s books, The Vicar of Nibbleswicke, about a vicar who has a fictitious form of dyslexia that causes him to say words backwards. Called”
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“My job was to try to help Winston to get on with FDR, and tell Winston what was in the old boy”
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“have doubts about religion and even about God”
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Peoriatimes.com: VYT’s ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical’ features local actors
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Smiley Movement: The role of a Roald Dahl Nurse
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Mashable: Henry Golding reads the first of Calm's Roald Dahl sleep stories
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BBC: 'Big step-up' - Hjerto-Dahl on joining Hull and watching the play-off final
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Data Portuaria: Royal Caribbean and Roald Dahl's Charity Partner for Legend of the Seas European Debut
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Legacy obituary: Danny Merrill Stevens Obituary (2026) - Post, TX - Dahl Funeral Chapel - Billings
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Mshale: Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical | Becoming Trunchbull Featurette Disney Cruise Ships (mpuEBGoO4N)
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Public attention spiked: 26,563 Wikipedia readers in one day, 5.4× the usual 4,882, with 2 article edits. Editors noted: Reverted good faith edits by WikipeidiaEditor (talk): WP:CATV, doesn't seem explicit from the text
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2025· 1 entry
The Guardian: The Twits review – Americanised Roald Dahl is gruesome in all the wrong ways
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2024· 6 entries
Reported claimRated The image of the statue has been created using AI as a work of satire. The resemblance to sex offender Jimmy Savile is intentional. · Full Fact
Full Fact rated the claim “A statue of children’s author Roald Dahl is going on display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.” The image of the statue has been created using AI as a work of satire. The resemblance to sex offender Jimmy Savile is intentional..
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Reported claimRated The image was generated with an AI tool by a Reddit user two years ago, and was intended to resemble Savile. A satirical Facebook group joked that it was intended to be an image of Roald Dahl and invented a centenary celebration, as the author’s first book was published in 1943. · PA Media
PA Media rated the claim “A statue of children’s author Roald Dahl, which has a resemblance to Jimmy Savile, has been put on show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to mark 100 years since the publication of Dahl's first book.” The image was generated with an AI tool by a Reddit user two years ago, and was intended to resemble Savile. A satirical Facebook group joked that it was intended to be an image of Roald Dahl and invented a centenary celebration, as the author’s first book was published in 1943..
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The Guardian: Giant – exploration of Roald Dahl and antisemitism that speaks to our times
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The Guardian: ‘I’m an ordinary man who plays crazy parts’: John Lithgow on tackling Roald Dahl
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The Guardian: Greg James apologises for suggestion a glass eye would make Roald Dahl Twit disgusting
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The Guardian: John Lithgow to star in Royal Court play about Roald Dahl’s antisemitism
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2023· 2 entries
The Guardian: The Enormous Crocodile review – Roald Dahl’s dastardly reptile stalks the stage
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Puffin Books, which holds the rights to all Dahl's children's books, published editions which included hundreds of revisions to the text at the advice of sensitivity readers
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2021· 1 entry
Forbes ranked him the top-earning dead celebrity
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2020· 1 entry
Dahl's family published, on the official Roald Dahl website, an apology for his antisemitism
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2018· 1 entry
Weston-super-Mare, the town described by Dahl as a "seedy seaside resort", unveiled a blue plaque dedicated to him, on the site of the since-demolished boarding school Dahl attended, St Peter's
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2017· 1 entry
The airline Norwegian announced Dahl's image would appear on the tail fin one of their Boeing 737-800 aircraft
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2016· 4 entries
The city celebrated the centenary of Dahl's birth in Llandaff
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Marking the centenary of Dahl's birth, Rennie compiled The Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary which includes many of his invented words and their meaning
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Dahl's enduring popularity was proved by his ranking in Amazon's the top five best-selling children's authors on the online store over the last year, looking at sales in print and on the Kindle store
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“s in his autobiography Boy: Tales of Childhood. Excelling at conkers — a traditional autumnal children”
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2015· 1 entry
Snopes rated the claim “In 1988 author Roald Dahl penned an open letter urging parents to have their children vaccinated against measles.” True.
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2014· 1 entry
Due to his comments, the Royal Mint decided not to produce a coin to commemorate Dahl's 100th birthday
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2012· 4 entries
Matilda was ranked number 30 among all-time best children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily US audience
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Dahl was featured in the list of The New Elizabethans to mark the diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II
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Featuring Blake's illustrations for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, The Twits, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox, and James and the Giant Peach
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Dahl was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork—the Beatles' Sgt
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2011· 1 entry
“There's enough chocolate in there to fill every bathtub in the entire country! And all the swimming pools as well!”
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2010· 1 entry
Featuring Quentin Blake's original illustrations for four of the children's books written by Dahl during his long career: The BFG, The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Matilda
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2008· 3 entries
Una Mullally argued that there are feminist messages in Dahl's work, even if they may be obscured, "The Witches offers up plenty of feminist complexities
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The UK charity BookTrust and Children's Laureate Michael Rosen inaugurated The Roald Dahl Funny Prize, an annual award to authors of humorous children's fiction
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The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945"
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2003· 1 entry
Four books by Dahl, led by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at number 35, ranked among the Top 100 in The Big Read, a survey of the British public by the BBC to determine the "nation's best-loved novel" of all time
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2002· 1 entry
One of Cardiff Bay's modern landmarks, the Oval Basin plaza, was renamed Roald Dahl Plass
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2000· 1 entry
Dahl topped the list of Britain's favourite authors
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1998· 1 entry
Michele Landsberg analysed the alleged issues in Dahl's work and concluded that, "Throughout his work, evil, domineering, smelly, fat, ugly women are his favourite villains
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1996· 1 entry
The Roald Dahl Children's Gallery was opened at the Buckinghamshire County Museum in Aylesbury, which is 10 miles (16 km) from Great Missenden
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1994· 1 entry
The English language audiobook recording of the book was provided by Monty Python member Michael Palin
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1993· 1 entry
Awarded De Kinderjury (1993).
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1991· 4 entries
Awarded De Kinderjury (1991).
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Awarded Premio Bernard Versele (1991).
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Was a mixture of recipes, family reminiscences and Dahl's musings on favourite subjects such as chocolate, onions and claret
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Michael Dirda also discussed other criticisms of Dahl's writing, including his alleged sexism, of which Dirda wrote, "The Witches verges on a general misogyny
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1990· 5 entries
Died 1990-11-23.
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“Dahl's last words, after being injected with morphine to help him die more easily.”
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And published posthumously in 1991, Roald Dahl's Guide to Railway Safety was one of the last things he ever wrote
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When the United Nations launched International Literacy Year, Dahl helped with the British Dyslexia Association's Awareness Campaign
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Dahl spoke again on the Lebanon invasion, stating "they killed 22,000 civilians when they bombed Beirut
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1989· 1 entry
Awarded De Kinderjury (1989).
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1988· 2 entries
Awarded Bancarellino Prize for The Witches (1988).
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In response to measles cases in the UK—and dedicated his 1982 book The BFG to her
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1984· 1 entry
Awarded Zilveren Griffel (1984).
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1983· 3 entries
Awarded World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (1983).
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Neal and Dahl divorced and Dahl married Felicity, at Brixton Town Hall, South London
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“s God Cried, a picture book about the siege of West Beirut by the Israeli army during the 1982 Lebanon War. The article, in which Dahl stated the Jews had never”
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1979· 2 entries
Won Golden Paintbrush (1979).
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“I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good, either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.”
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1977· 1 entry
And the eponymous short story was adapted into a short film in 2023 by director Wes Anderson with Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character Henry Sugar and Ralph Fiennes as Dahl
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1973· 1 entry
Dahl posted a reply, calling Cameron's accusations "insensitive" and "monstrous"
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1972· 2 entries
Roald Dahl met Felicity "Liccy" d'Abreu Crosland (niece of Lt
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Eleanor Cameron, also a children's book author, published an article in The Horn Book criticising Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its depiction of the African-derived Oompa-Loompas, who "have never been given the o
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1967· 1 entry
Learned that she had saved every one of his letters; they were broadcast in abridged form as BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week in 2016 to mark the centenary of his birth
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1965· 1 entry
Patricia Neal suffered three burst cerebral aneurysms while pregnant with their fifth child, Lucy
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1961· 1 entry
Dahl hosted and wrote for a science fiction and horror television anthology series called 'Way Out, which preceded the Twilight Zone series on the CBS network for 14 episodes from March to July
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1960· 1 entry
Awarded Edgar Awards for The Landlady (1960).
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1954· 2 entries
Awarded Edgar Awards for Someone Like You (1954).
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The collection Someone Like You; in 1959, the story "The Landlady"; and in 1980, the episode of Tales of the Unexpected based on "Skin"
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1943· 1 entry
About mischievous little creatures that were part of Royal Air Force folklore
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1920· 1 entry
When Dahl was three years old; his father died of pneumonia at age 57, several weeks later
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1916· 2 entries
Born 1916-09-13.
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At Villa Marie, Fairwater Road, in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl née Hesselberg
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