Roald Dahl known as one of the 20th century’s greatest storytellers for children – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory amongst others – has been turned down by the Royal Mint for a commemorative coin because of his anti-Semitic views. His books which have sold more than 250,000 million copies worldwide were often macabre, darkly comic and unsentimental.
He was born 13 September 1916 in Cardiff, Wales to Norwegian parents and had an extraordinary and tragedy-strewn life. His sister died at 7 (appendicitis) as did one of his own daughters (measles). His father died the same year as his sister when he was 3, and he had an unhappy public school upbringing. He went on to have a high-risk World War 11 as a fighter pilot, surviving a horrific crash; became an air attache in Washington sleeping with the wives of influential men to obtain secrets of the UK Secret Service. And ultimately married Patricia Neal, a well-known Hollywood actress when she was on the rebound from an affair with Gary Cooper. His first child, a boy, was brain damaged in a car accident at four months old; two years later his daughter died; and three years after that his wife, Patricia Neal, took a near terminal stroke while pregnant.
He had an unaspected Sun Virgo with an outspoken Mercury in Libra trine Uranus. But what marks out his chart as reckless, dark and sometimes cruel was a Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto, and opposition Jupiter square Venus Neptune in Leo. He liked the high life, could be charming though also stubborn and was emotionally a complex mess. Not an easy man to live with.
Patricia Neal was born 20 Jan 1926 at 4.40 am Gatliff, KY, USA. She was a Sun Capricorn conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius with a hugely complicated chart. She has a bleak, though persevering, self-protective and creative Water Grand Trine of Saturn in Scorpio trine an 7th house Pluto trine Uranus. She also had an inspirational, confident Fire Grand Trine of Mars in Sagittarius trine an Aries Moon trine an 8th house Neptune in Leo, formed into a Kite by Venus opposition Neptune. A Fire Earth chart is highly combustible, excitable, impulsive and is relatively common in creative/entertainment business types.
Their marriage had been a disaster since the start though they stuck it out and he bullied her mercilessly after her stroke to improve her motor skills; until after 30 years he left her for a younger model.
Their relationship chart was combative and grim with a composite Sun, Mars, Mercury sextile Saturn; with an up-and-down Saturn opposition Jupiter; and an illusory Venus square Neptune leading to disappointment.
His creative 5th and 7th Harmonics were strong though with a dark streak of cruelty and wayward determination.
Astonishing that he became so popular for children’s stories – modern Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Shades of Enid Blyton who wrote pleasanter kids’ tales but was a thoroughly unpleasant person.