Dodie Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dodie Smith
Smith in the 1930s
Born	Dorothy Gladys Smith (1896-05-03)3 May 1896 Whitefield, Lancashire, England
Died	24 November 1990(1990-11-24) (aged 94) Uttlesford, Essex, England
Pen name	C. L. Anthony Charles Henry Percy
Occupation	Novelist, playwright
Nationality	British
Education	St Paul's Girls' School
Genre	Children's literature
Notable works	The Hundred and One Dalmatians; I Capture the Castle; The Starlight Barking
Spouse	Alec Macbeth Beesley (1939–1987)

Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (born May 3, 1896 – died November 24, 1990) was a famous English writer. She wrote both novels and plays. Dodie Smith is best known for her popular books I Capture the Castle (1948) and the children's story The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956). She also wrote other works like Dear Octopus (1938) and The Starlight Barking (1967).

The Hundred and One Dalmatians became a very famous animated movie in 1961. It was also made into a live-action film in 1996. Both movies were created by Disney. Her novel I Capture the Castle was also made into a film in 2003. This book was even voted one of Britain's 100 best-loved novels by the public in 2003.

Biography

Early Life and Theatre Dreams

Dodie Smith was born on May 3, 1896, in Whitefield, England. She was the only child of Ernest and Ella Smith. Her father passed away when Dodie was only two years old. After that, Dodie and her mother moved to Old Trafford to live with her grandparents.

Dodie's childhood home was called Kingston House. She lived there with her mother, grandparents, two aunts, and three uncles. In her autobiography, Look Back with Love, Dodie said her grandfather helped her become a playwright. He loved the theatre and talked about Shakespeare with her. Her uncle, Harold Furber, was an amateur actor who read plays with her. Dodie's mother had also wanted to be an actress. Dodie wrote her first play when she was just ten years old. She started acting in small roles as a teenager.

Moving to London and Acting Career

In 1910, when Dodie was 14, her mother remarried. They moved to London. Dodie went to school in both Manchester and London. In 1914, she joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). This is a famous school for actors.

After RADA, Dodie got several acting roles. She played a Chinese girl in Mr. Wu and a parlour maid in Ye Gods. She also performed for troops in France during World War I. Dodie toured with a French comedy and appeared in plays in England and Switzerland.

Becoming a Playwright

Even though Dodie had sold a movie script and written a one-act play, she found it hard to get steady work. In 1923, she took a job at Heal and Son, a furniture store in London. She became the toy buyer there.

Dodie wrote her first play that was performed on stage, Autumn Crocus, in 1931. She used a pen name, C.L. Anthony, at first. The play was very successful! When journalists found out who she was, a newspaper headline read, "Shopgirl Writes Play."

Her fourth play, Call It a Day, was a huge hit. It ran for 509 performances in London. This success allowed Dodie to buy a cottage in Essex. Her next play, Dear Octopus (1938), was also very popular. It was about a family, and the title refers to a toast: "To the family—that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape."

18 Dorset Square, London, where Dodie Smith lived for many years.

A blue plaque at 18 Dorset Square, London, marks Dodie Smith's former home.

In 1939, Dodie married Alec Macbeth Beesley. He had worked with her at Heal's and was her friend and business manager. They lived for many years in Dorset Square, London. A special plaque now marks her former home there.

Life in America and Later Works

During the 1940s, Dodie and Alec moved to the United States. They lived there for several years. Dodie felt homesick for Britain, and this feeling inspired her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948). They lived in places like Pennsylvania, Beverly Hills, and Malibu.

While in America, they became friends with other writers. Dodie even said her friend Alec suggested adapting a story into a play called I Am a Camera. This play later became the famous musical Cabaret.

Dodie's first play back in London was Letter from Paris in 1952. She continued to write. Dodie Smith passed away in 1990 in Essex, England, three years after her husband Alec.

The Hundred and One Dalmatians

Dodie Smith and her husband Alec loved dogs very much. They had many Dalmatians as pets, sometimes as many as nine! Their first Dalmatian was named Pongo. This became the name of the main dog in her famous novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Dodie got the idea for the book when a friend saw her Dalmatians and joked, "Those dogs would make a lovely fur coat!" This sparked the idea for the villain, Cruella De Vil.

Disney has made two movies based on her novel:

• An animated film in 1961 called One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
• A live-action film in 1996 called 101 Dalmatians.

Both Disney films had sequels, but these sequels are not connected to Dodie Smith's own sequel novel, The Starlight Barking.

Works

Film Adaptations of Her Works

Many of Dodie Smith's books and plays have been made into movies:

• Looking Forward (1933 film) (based on Service)
• Autumn Crocus (1934)
• Call It a Day (1937)
• Dear Octopus (film) (1943)
• The First Day of Spring (1956), (based on Call It a Day)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
• 101 Dalmatians (1996)
• I Capture the Castle (film) (2003)

Film Sequels (Not by Dodie Smith)

These movies are sequels to the Disney films, but they are not based on Dodie Smith's own sequel book, The Starlight Barking:

• 102 Dalmatians (2000)
• 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003)
• Cruella (2021)