Tessa Dahl | |
|---|---|
| Born | Chantal Sophia Dahl 11 April 1957 Oxford, England |
| Occupation(s) | Novelist, journalist |
| Spouses |
|
| Partner | Julian Holloway (1976) |
| Children | 4, including Sophie Dahl |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
|
Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is a British author and former actress. She is the daughter of British-Norwegian author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal.
Early life
Dahl was born at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, the second daughter of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal;[1] her elder sister Olivia died from measles in 1962. She grew up in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, and attended Roedean 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 before publishing her first novel, the semi-autobiographical Working For Love, in 1988.[2] Dahl became an author of children's fiction. Her book Gwenda and the Animals won the Friends of the Earth Best Children's Book of the Year. In addition, she has written extensively for the London Times, Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, Vogue, House and Garden (US) and YOU Magazine. For many years, she was a contributing editor to the magazine Tatler.
Personal life
Dahl's relationship with actor Julian Holloway produced one daughter, model and author Sophie Dahl; the couple separated shortly afterwards.[3] 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, and had a son, Ned, a journalist. In 2019, the Jordanian royal court announced Ned's engagement to Princess Raiyah bint Hussein; they married in 2020.
Tessa Dahl has also had relationships with Peter Sellers, David Hemmings, Bryan Ferry, Brian de Palma and Dai Llewellyn.[4][5]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Happy Mother's Day, Love George | Celia Perry |
| 1975 | Royal Flash | First Girl |
| 1976 | The Slipper and The Rose | Princess |
| 1978 | Leopard in the Snow | Miss Framley |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Movin' On | Haley | Episode: "Prosperity #1" |
| 1992 | This Is Your Life | Herself | Episode: "Gary Glitter" |
| 2005 | Imagine | Herself | Episode: "Fantastic Mr Dahl" |
| 2005 | The Wonderful World of Roald Dahl | Herself | TV movie documentary |
| 2005 | Come Home Gary Glitter | Herself | TV documentary |
| 2017 | Revolting | Herself - Roald Dahl's Daughter | Episode #1.5 |
Theatre
Apprenticed at the Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va. (1972). The Deep Man by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (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
- ↑ Shearer, Stephen Michael (16 March 2021). Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8072-4.
- ↑ "For Love and Money : Celebrity Daughter Tessa Dahl Wrote Her First Novel Because She Needed a Job. She Also Needed the Applause." Los Angeles Times, 5 March 1989. Retrieved 10 November 2015
- ↑ "A fairytale life" The Telegraph, 28 January 2003. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ↑ "Great dynasties of the world: The Dahls" The Guardian, 19 November 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2017
- ↑ "'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].