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Name __________________________ date _______
Roald Dahl Biography
Roald Dahl was born in Wales on 16th September
1916 to Norwegian parents. His father died when he was 3 years old
and he was raised by his mother. He did not enjoy his time at
boarding school and his school memories provided some of the
inspiration for his later stories.
After leaving school he worked for the Shell Oil Company and was
based in Africa, until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when
he signed up with the Royal Air Force. Unfortunately, on a flight into
enemy territory he ran out of fuel and crashed in the Libyan desert.
He was sent to Washington DC to work as an attaché where, almost
by accident, he started his writing career. When he was interviewed
for an article about his time in action, he offered to write about his
experiences. His piece was published in the Saturday Evening Post,
who signed him up to write more articles in 1941.
In 1943 he wrote his first children’s book, The Gremlins, which was
originally intended to be made into an animated film by Walt Disney.
The film was not made and instead Dahl turned to writing adult
fiction.
In 1945 he moved back to the UK, but in the early fifties returned
to America, and in 1953 he married his first wife, the actress
Patricia Neal. They had five children together but got divorced in
1983. The last years of his life were very happy and he wrote some
of his best books during this period: The BFG, The Witches and
Matilda. In total, he wrote 21 children’s books. Roald Dahl died on
23rd November 1990 in Oxford, England.
1. How old was Roald Dahl when he died?
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2. Why did his plane crash in the desert?
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3. How many children did he have?
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4. Name two of his books ___________________________
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5. Complete the following timeline of Dahl's life (fill in all the
blanks!):
1916 Dahl was born in South Wales
1919
1934-39 Worked for Shell Oil in London and Africa
1939
1941 Published a newspaper story in the USA
1943
1945
Got married to ...
Died in Oxford
Complete the titles of these Roald Dahl books.
Charlie and the _____________ Factory
Danny, the Champion of the __________
Esio _______
Fantastic Mr ______
George's ______________ Medicine
James and the _________ Peach
M___________
The BF__
The Enormous ____________
The G____________
The Magic __________
The M___________
The T________
The W________
Marvellous Chocolate World
Fox Giant G
Matilda Crocodile Trot
Minpins Witches Finger
Twits Gremlins