Tessa Dahl

Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl (born 11 April 1957) is an English author and former actress.

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.

After a brief stint as an actress during the 1970s, Tessa Dahl became a prolific author, her work including the novel Working For Love and 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 (USA) and YOU Magazine. She is a contributing editor to the women's glossy magazine Tatler.

Dahl's relationship with actor Julian Holloway produced one daughter, model and author Sophie Dahl; the couple separated shortly afterwards. 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.

Apprenticed at the Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va. (1972). The Deep Man by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1979) Royal Exchange, Manchester.