Radcliffe, Daniel -
Rankin, Chris -
Rawle, Jeff -
Rawlins, Adrian -
Richardson, Miranda -
Rickman, Alan -
Ridley, Mr. -
Rolls-Royce engine plant -
Rowling, Anne Volant -
Rowling, Dianne -
Rowling, Ernie -
Rowling, Janet (Gallivan) -
Rowling, Jessica Isabel -
Rowling, Kathleen -
Rowling, Peter James
Radcliffe, Daniel
Born in July 1989, Daniel Radcliffe was not new to the acting world when he
signed to play the role of
Harry Potter in August 2000.
Radcliffe played the tailor's son in
The Tailor of Panama and had
recently played the young David Copperfield for the BBC production of
David Copperfield. His father Alan Radcliffe
was an actor for a brief time, before becoming a successful literary agent
with William Morris and later with ICM. His mother, Marcia Gresham, also had
an acting career before becoming a casting agent. Daniel received
£200,000 ($300,000) for the first two
films. Additional information
about Radcliffe can be found at
http://www.danradcliffe.com/
Rankin, Chris
Born in November 1983 in Auckland,
New Zealand,
Chris Rankin was cast as
Percy Weasley in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0710242/
Rawle, Jeff
Born in July 1951 in Birmingham, England, Jeff Rawle was cast as
Amos Diggory in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712575/
Rawlins, Adrian
Born in March 1958 in Staffordshire, England, Adrian Rawlins was cast as
James Potter in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0712628/
Richardson, Miranda
Born in March 1958 in
Lancashire, England,
Miranda Richardson was cast as
Rita Skeeter in the
Harry Potter films.
Further information can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001669/
Rickman, Alan
Born in 1946 in London,
Rickman was cast to play the role of
Severus Snape in the
Harry Potter films. Extensive
information about Mr. Rickman's life and distinguished career can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000614/ and
http://www.alan-rickman.com/
From the 2001 Unreel Magazine interview of Alan Rickman:
Q: Can you tell us a little about your character
Professor Snape?
A: Well he's Professor of Potions and the current head of Slytherin House at
Hogwarts - the school of wizardry that Harry attends, but he harbours a secret
ambition to be a Professor of the Dark Arts. He isn't that taken with Harry
though, probably because he finds him a little too popular for a first year
pupil, I suppose. I think at heart Snape is basically quite an insecure person,
he's always longing to be something else that people will really respect like
a black magician not just a school master. That's why he envies the more
popular and successful boys like Harry. He does have his positive side though
even though Harry's a thorn in his side he doesn't let it worry him too much.
[Full text of interview]
Ridley, Mr.
Rowling dedicated GF to:
"Peter Rowling, in memory
of Mr. Ridley, and to Susan Sladden, who helped Harry get out of the
cupboard." Mr. Ridley is Ronald Ridley, an old family friend, who
inspired her choice of given name for the character of Ronald Weasley.
Peter Rowling's personal copy of
GF is inscribed:
"Dear Dad, If I had said Ronald (Weasley) Ridley, they would have
tracked the poor bloke down... but that's why
Ron's called Ron, of course!"
http://www.hpana.com/news.cfm?nid=17716
Rolls-Royce engine plant
JKR's father worked at a Rolls-Royce aircraft engine plant in
Bristol while she was growing up
(WP1).
Rowling, Anne Volant
JKR's mother was a lab technician while Jo was growing up. She was
half-Scottish, half-French. She died of multiple sclerosis on 30 December
1990, at the age of 45. She never knew that her daughter had started writing
about Harry Potter and achieved such wide success
(SS_JKRB).
JKR has confirmed that the loss of her mother inspired the scene in
PS12 where
Harry sees
his deceased parents in the
Mirror of Erised.
JKR was close to her mother and says that "she would give almost
anything for another five minutes with my mother which, of course, would never
be enough." ("Tales from a Single Mother," Eddie Gibb,
The Sunday Times, 29 June 1997).
Rowling, Dianne
Dianne Rowling, second child of Peter and
Anne Rowling, was born 28 June 1967 in
Yate (birthdate given as 18 June 1967 in
Connie Kirk's book
J.K. Rowling: A Biography,
which is probably a typographical error). Dianne
married Roger Moore in Edinburgh on
3 September 1993. JKR would soon land on her newly-married sister's doorstep
with baby Jessica in late November 1993
(SS_JKRB).
Rowling, Ernie
In later years, Rowling's paternal grandfather and his wife
Kathleen ran a grocery store called
Glenwood Stores in Station Road, West Mors, near
Wimbourne Minster in Dorset. In tribute
to her grandfathers, Rowling named the driver and conductor of the
Knight Bus for them
(Stan and
Ernie)
(SS_JKRB).
Rowling, Janet (Gallivan)
Some years after the death of Anne Rowling,
Peter Rowling married his secretary,
Janet Gallivan, on 2 April 1993. Peter and
Janet Rowling have, by all accounts, a good relationship with JKR
(SS_JKRB).
Rowling, Jessica Isabel
JKR's first child was born on 27 July 1993 in
Porto, Portugal. She was named after JKR's
heroine and human rights activist,
Jessica Mitford. JKR gave
Jessica a copy of Mitford's book
Hons and Rebels
shortly after her birth in remembrance of the woman for whom she was named
(SS_JKRB).
Rowling, Kathleen
JKR's paternal grandmother, who died in Poole,
Dorset near
Bournemouth
in about 1974 / 1975 when JKR was nine years old. JKR was born
Joanne Rowling, with no middle name, and when it was decided that
Philosopher's Stone
would be published under initials paired with her surname, Rowling chose to
take her paternal grandmother's name of Kathleen as a middle name
(SS_JKRB).
Rowling, Peter James
Like JKR's mother, her father Peter Rowling was born during the wartime
years of the early 1940s. His father
Ernie Rowling had moved from northeast London
to West Moors near Bournemouth to
open a grocery store, and son Peter followed this example after his
March 1965 marriage to Anne Volant, moving her
to the West Country village of Yate,
northeast of Bristol. JKR's father
worked at a Rolls-Royce aircraft engine plant in
Bristol while she was growing up
(SS_JKRB).
