Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is an English author and former actress. She is the daughter of British author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

and American actress

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

Early life

Dahl was born in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, the second daughter of British author

and American actress

; her elder sister Olivia died from

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

in 1962. She grew up in

Great Missenden Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

, and attended

Roedean Roedean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, UK, east of the seaside resort of Brighton. Notable buildings and areas Roedean Gap is a slight dip in the cliffs between Black Rock and Ovingdean Gap, and has been known by the ...

and Downe House schools, the Elizabeth Russell Cookery School and the Herbert Bergof Acting Studio.

Career

Dahl has worked as an actress, modelled, worked at an antique shop, worked at an employment agency and written articles for ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' before publishing her first novel, the

semi-autobiographical An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. B ...

''Working For Love'', in 1988. Dahl became an author of children's fiction. Her book ''Gwenda and the Animals'' won the

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split wi ...

Best Children's Book of the Year. In addition, she has written extensively for the ''

London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...

'', the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'', ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'', ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' House and Garden'' (US) and '' YOU Magazine''. For many years, she was a contributing editor to the magazine ''

''.

Personal life

Dahl's relationship with actor Julian Holloway produced one daughter, model and author Sophie Dahl; the couple separated shortly afterwards. She subsequently married businessman James Kelly and had two children, Clover and Luke. She then married businessman Patrick Donovan (deceased on 7 February 2021), son of Ambassador

Francis Patrick Donovan Francis Patrick Donovan, (1 February 1922 − 3 February 2012) was an Australian academic, lawyer, and diplomat. He served as Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the OECD, and Ambassador and Special Trade Delegate to the Un ...

, and had a son, Ned, a journalist. In 2019, the Jordanian royal court announced Ned's engagement to

Princess Raiyah bint Hussein Princess Raiyah bint Hussein ( ar, راية بنت الحسين; born 9 February 1986) is the younger daughter of King Hussein of Jordan and Queen Noor. She has two brothers, Hamzah and Hashem, as well as an elder sister, Princess Iman. She is ...

. Tessa Dahl has also had relationships with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

David Hemmings David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director. He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the 1966 mystery film ...

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...

Brian de Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

and Dai Llewellyn."'In my youth," Tessa Dahl has said, "I was notorious not famous." Her father was legendary author Roald Dahl and her mother the movie star Patricia Neal. Life was never going to be conventional for Tessa." Sunday Independent (Dublin, Republic of Ireland), 26 December 2010].

Filmography

Television

Theatre

Apprenticed at the

Barter Theatre Barter Theatre, in Abingdon, Virginia, opened on June 10, 1933. It is the longest-running professional Equity theatre in the United States. History Concept In 1933, when the United States was in the middle of the Great Depression, many peo ...

, Abingdon, Va. (1972). '' The Deep Man'' by

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-cl ...

(1979) Royal Exchange, Manchester.

Bibliography

* ''Working for Love'' (1988) * ''The Same But Different'' (1988) – picture book * ''Gwenda & the Animals'' (1989) * ''School Can Wait'' (1990) * ''Babies, Babies, Babies'' (1991) – picture book * ''Everywoman's Experience of Pregnancy and Birth'' (1994)

References

External links

*
Tessa Dahl at Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dahl, Tessa 1957 births Living people 20th-century English novelists English women novelists English children's writers English film actresses English people of American descent English people of Norwegian descent English people of Welsh descent People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex People from Great Missenden 20th-century English women writers

Tessa Tessa is a feminine given name, sometimes a shortened form of Theresa. It may refer to: People * Tessa Albertson (born 1996), American actress * Tessa Balfour, Countess of Balfour (born 1950), British aristocrat * Tessa Blanchard (born 1994), Am ...

writers from Oxford