Sophie Dahl
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sophie Dahl (born September 15, 1977 in London) is an English fashion model and author of partially Norwegian descent. Her mother is writer Tessa Dahl (daughter of the British-Norwegian children's author Roald Dahl and the actress Patricia Neal), and her father is actor Julian Holloway (son of actor Stanley Holloway).
Dahl was discovered by Isabella Blow on a London street at the age of 18. At a voluptuous dress size and 38DD bra-size, Dahl defied the stick-thin modelling status quo; she is largely known for being a plus-size model, although she has since lost weight and is now of similar proportions to other fashion models. Her best-known work was a magazine and poster advertisement for an Yves Saint Laurent perfume called Opium, showing her lying naked on a black velvet sheet. There were many complaints about the advertisement, resulting in it being removed from billboards in the UK, and totally banned in France.
As a child, Dahl was the inspiration for Matilda, the title character in the book by her grandfather, Roald Dahl. Later she became an author herself, writing several short stories and in 2003 publishing the novella The Man with the Dancing Eyes, an "adult fairy-tale" (ISBN 0-7475-6372-1). In 2007, she published her first full-length work of fiction, a semi-autobiographical novel entitled Playing with the Grown-ups. Dahl is a contributing editor of Men's Vogue.
In 2006, she performed in Children's Party at the Palace for Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday. She appeared on the cover of the November 2007 issue of UK Vogue.
Sophie is reportedly dating Jamie Cullum an English pop and jazz-pop singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, and drummer.
