--- title: Roald Dahl at 100: See His Life Story in 1 Minute description: The world-famous children's author was born on Sept. 13, 1916. One hundred years later, his influence lives on through his beloved books. canonical: https://time.com/4487573/roald-dahl-100-years-biography-video/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-12T19:00:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:32:03.972Z article:section: History og:title: Roald Dahl Was Born 100 Years Ago. Here’s His Life Story in 1 Minute og:description: Roald Dahl was born Sept. 13, 1916 og:url: https://time.com/4487573/roald-dahl-100-years-biography-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e233ef135eb037f/6988a585f887dcf97fe975d6/roald-dahl-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: roald-dahl-facebook og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Roald Dahl Was Born 100 Years Ago. Here’s His Life Story in 1 Minute twitter:description: Roald Dahl was born Sept. 13, 1916 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e233ef135eb037f/6988a585f887dcf97fe975d6/roald-dahl-facebook.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Roald Dahl Was Born 100 Years Ago. Here’s His Life Story in 1 Minute by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 12, 2016 7:00 PM UTC  Ronald Dumont—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Sep 12, 2016 7:00 PM UTC One hundred years after the birth of [Roald Dahl](http://time.com/4343386/roald-dahl-bfg-book-movie/), it’s hard to imagine childhood without his [fantastic fictions](http://time.com/4483825/roald-dahl-anniversary-best-books/): on the page and the screen, characters like Willy Wonka, Matilda and the BFG have come to represent the magic of youth. Dahl’s own life may have been more conventional than his characters’ (what mere mortal’s wouldn’t be?) but it was nevertheless filled with challenges and adventures. A dissatisfied schoolboy, Dahl opted out of college in favor of traveling the world and serving with the Royal Air Force. His first attempt at children’s literature, a Disney book called _Gremlins_, was a flop, but he saw success with the adult story collection [_Someone Like You_](http://time.com/vault/issue/1953-12-28/page/61/). In 1961, with the publication of _James and the Giant Peach_, his legendary career truly began. Dahl continued to dabble with adult stories—in addition to writing screenplays for _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ and another children’s story, _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_, he wrote the screenplay for the 1967 James Bond film _You Only Live Twice_. But he solidly occupied the domain of young readers with classics like _Fantastic Mr. Fox_ and _The Witches_, made all the more iconic thanks to Quentin Blake’s signature illustrations that manage to be both spooky and charming. To date, his books are estimated to have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide. Years after his 1990 death, movie adaptations continue to hit the big screen, including Steven Spielberg’s take on _The BFG_, which pleased crowds this summer. [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter) Watch 100 years of Dahl’s life and legacy unfold in one minute in the video above. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4487573/roald-dahl-100-years-biography-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4487573/roald-dahl-100-years-biography-video/"},"headline":"Roald Dahl Was Born 100 Years Ago. 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