Fascinating Facts about the Famous J.K. Rowling

  1. Joanne Kathleen Rowling (Jo to friends, JKR to fans) was born in Chepstow, Gwent, England 31 July 1965- she and her hero share the same birthday.
  2. At age six, Rowling wrote her first story about a rabbit who gets the measles, after which her family moved to a house in Winterbourne (near Bristol) where she and her sister played with neighbor kids by the name of Potter.
  3. Contrary to popular belief, Rowling wrote Harry's first adventure on napkins and notepads in coffee shops not because she was homeless or because she couldn't afford paper, but because her infant daughter, Jessica, didn't like to be cooped up in the house all day, and because J.K. just happened to like a particular coffee shop (although Rowling was suffering from a financial low period).
  4. While working on her first manuscript, Rowling had work as a French teacher, until her agent found the right publisher (Britain's Bloomsbury) and she was able to publish Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in June 1997 (it was later changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the American revision).
  5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released, first in Britain, and then in the U.S. In 1999, Rowling's books broke U.S. records with the release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with the first three books in the top three spots in the New York Times bestseller list, "an unprecedented feat". source Also in 1999, Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the first two books, on Rowling's conditions that they be live-action (not animation), and that she have script approval (she was excited to see Quidditch come to life on the big screen and hoped Robbie Coltrane will play Rubeus Hagrid, which he did).
  6. On 26 December 2001, J.K. married Dr. Neil Murray (single mother no more, but still one of the richest women in the world).
  7. The first two films, starring nearly all-British casts, broke box office records first on the weekends of 16 November 2001, and then 15 November 2002, making more money on opening weekend than every film ever (with the exception Spider-Man).
  8. J.K. Rowling FINALLY announced the publishing date of 21 June 2003 (three years following the release of Book IV) for her most anticipated work to date, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the story that follows the pivotal events of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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