Author. Born in Llandaff, Wales, of Norwegian parents, Harald Dahl, the joint owner of a successful shipping business and his second wife Sofie Magdalene Hesselberg. Within just a few weeks in 1920, Dahl's seven year old older sister, Astri died of appendicitis and his father died of pneumonia. The family remained in Britain, however, and Dahl first attended Llandaff Cathedral School before he was sent to several different boarding schools, which proved an appalling experience for him. At eighteen, Dahl took a job with Shell Petroleum, working in London and in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) until the outbreak of WWII. In November 1939, he joined the RAF. He was made a Pilot Officer and assigned to No. 80 Squadron RAF. In 1940, he crash landed his aircraft in Libya fracturing his skull, and smashing his nose. His injuries left him temporarily blind. After five months of recovery, Dahl was again flying. He saw action in Libya, Greece, and Syria and ended the war as a Wing Commander. Encouraged by C. S. Forester, Dahl wrote about his RAF experiences in 'A Piece of Cake' which was published by the 'Saturday Evening Post'. Dahl's first children's book, 'The Gremlins' was published in 1943. In 1953, Dahl entered into a thirty year marriage with actress Patricia Neal with whom he had five children. Dahl published 'James and the Giant Peach' in 1961 which was followed by 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' in 1964. He wrote the screenplay for 'You Only Live Twice' in 1967 based on Ian Fleming's novel, as well as that for 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' in 1968 and 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' in 1971. 'My Uncle Oswald' in 1979 was Dahl's first full-length adult novel. Dahl received three Poe Awards for his writing in 1954, 1959, and 1980. In 1983 he received World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1983 he married Felicity Ann d'Abreu Crosland. His books became known for their imagination; always a little cruel, but never without humor, often a mixture of the grotesque and comic. He died of leukemia in November 1990, at his home, Gipsy House, in Buckinghamshire. In his honor, the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery was opened at Bucks County Museum in nearby Aylesbury. Through the Roald Dahl Foundation, Dahl continues to contribute in the fields of neurology, hematology, and literacy. In June 2005 the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre opened to celebrate the work of Roald Dahl and advance his work in literacy.