J

J.K. Rowling

Writer

Born: 31 July 1965

Birthplace: Chipping Sodbury, England

Best known as: Creator of fictional wizard Harry Potter

Joanne K. Rowling (pronounced rolling) is the author of the Harry Potter series of books, which began with the 1997 tale Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. (U.S. title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.) The book told the story of Harry Potter, a seemingly ordinary boy who discovered that he was actually a wizard. The book was a sensational hit, and by the end of 1999 the top three slots on the New York Times list of bestsellers were taken by the first three books in the Harry Potter series. By the 2000 release of the fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter had become a global pop culture phenomenon, with parents and children standing in line at bookstores waiting for the book's release. Rowling herself had become one of the world's best-known and best-paid authors. After the 2003 release of the fifth Harry Potter book, The Order of the Phoenix, the BBC reported that Rowling's books had been translated into 60 languages (including ancient Greek) and had sold over 250 million copies worldwide. The sequels to the original book are: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1999), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). Rowling has stated that the seventh book is the last in the series.

Extra credit: The films Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) starred Daniel Radcliffe as Harry, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's friends Ron and Hermione, and Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy... Rowling married Dr. Neil Murray in Scotland on 26 December 2001; their children are David (b. 2003) and Mackenzie (b. 2005). Rowling has one child, Jessica (b. 1993), from her previous marriage to Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese TV journalist.