Tessa Dahl
Born
Chantal Sophia Dahl

(1957-04-11) 11 April 1957 (age 66)
Oxford, England
Occupation(s)Novelist, journalist
Spouses
  • James Kelly
  • Patrick Donovan
PartnerJulian Holloway (1976)
Children4, 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, the youngest daughter of King Hussein I of Jordan and Queen Noor; 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

References

  1. ^ Shearer, Stephen Michael (16 March 2021). Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-8072-4.
  2. ^ "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
  3. ^ "A fairytale life" The Telegraph, 28 January 2003. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Great dynasties of the world: The Dahls" The Guardian, 19 November 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2017
  5. ^ "'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].

External links

Roald Dahl
Authority control databases
Categories