Roald Dahl (September 13, 1916 – November 23, 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter, born in Wales of Norwegian parents. After service in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace, he rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world’s bestselling authors.

Roald Dahl.

His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children’s books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour. Some of his most popular books include The Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.

Dahl, a close friend of Ian Fleming, was chosen to write the adaptation for You Only Live Twice despite having no prior experience of writing a screenplay except for the uncompleted The Bells Of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling. Originally the producers had Harold Jack Bloom who came to Japan with the producers write a screenplay that was rejected, but several of Bloom’s ideas were subsequently used by Dahl. Bloom was given the credit of “Additonal Story Material”.