Tessa Dahl
Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is an English author and former actress. She is the daughter of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal.
Tessa Dahl | |
---|---|
Born | Chantal Sophia Dahl 11 April 1957 Oxford, England, UK |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
Spouse(s) | James Kelly Patrick Donovan |
Partner(s) | Julian Holloway (1976) |
Children | 4, including Sophie Dahl |
Parent(s) | Roald Dahl Patricia Neal |
Relatives | Olivia Dahl (sister) Ophelia Dahl (sister) Lucy Dahl (sister) Phoebe Dahl (niece) Nicholas Logsdail (paternal first cousin) |
Life
Dahl was born in Oxford, the daughter of British author Roald Dahl and American actress Patricia Neal. 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.
Dahl has worked as an actress, modeled, 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.[1] 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.
Dahl's relationship with actor Julian Holloway produced one daughter, model and author Sophie Dahl; the couple separated shortly afterwards.[2] She subsequently married businessman James Kelly and had two children, Clover and Luke. She then married businessman Patrick Donovan, 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.
Tessa Dahl has also had relationships with Peter Sellers, David Hemmings, Bryan Ferry, Brian de Palma and Dai Llewellyn.[3][4]
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
- "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. Accessed 10 November 2015
- "A fairytale life" The Telegraph, 28 January 2003. Accessed 14 December 2018.
- "Great dynasties of the world: The Dahls" The Guardian, 19 November 2010. Accessed 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].