WRITER · BORN 1965
J.K. Rowling
- Born
- 31 July 1965, Yate, Gloucestershire, England, UK
- Known for
- The Simpsons (1989), Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022), 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments (2011), Harry Potter: A History Of Magic (2017)
60 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
14 Facts About J.K. Rowling's Life and Family
- #002
When the first "Harry Potter" novel was published, the publisher asked her to use her initials instead of her name, because boys would be prejudiced against a book written by a woman. Since she had only one first name, they asked her to invent another initial; she took the "K." from her favorite grandmother, Kathleen.
- #005
The character names in her novels are often clues to their identities or secrets. For example, Professor Remus Lupin is a werewolf. According to legend, Romulus and Remus were the founders of Rome and were raised by wolves. The surname Lupin derives from lupus, the Latin word for wolf, and the English adjective lupine, meaning wolf-like. Lupin was turned into a werewolf by Fenrir Greyback, who takes his name from Fenrir, the monstrous wolf son of Loki in Norse mythology. (His nickname, Fenrisulfr, was the basis for Fenris Ulf, the American name of Maugrim in C. S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia".) Sirius Black, who transforms into a black dog, takes his name from the star Sirius, which can be found in the constellation Canis Major (the great dog).
- #016
While at the University of Exeter, she had very little money and wrote small personal stories for her friends for their birthdays.
- #017
She secretly published a detective novel, "The Cuckoo's Calling", under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, as a "first-time author", so that it would receive impartial reviews independent of her reputation as the author of the Harry Potter novels and "The Casual Vacancy".
- #019
On 7 July 2004, J.K. Rowling received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh for her outstanding contribution to the Potter books and to children's literature.
- #021
On 27 July 1993, at the age of 27, she gave birth to her first child, her daughter Jessica Isabel Rowling-Arantes. The child's father is her first husband, Jorge Arantes.
- #025
Her mother died of multiple sclerosis before she had the chance to enjoy the enormous success of her daughter Joanne's Harry Potter novels and films. In memory of her and of the circumstances of her death, Joanne donated £10 million to the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
- #026
On 24 March 2003, at the age of 37, she gave birth to her second child, David Gordon Rowling-Murray. The child's father is her second husband, Neil Murray.
- #033
On 23 January 2005, at the age of 39, she gave birth to her third child, her daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling-Murray. The child's father is her second husband, Neil Murray.
- #037
Casting an actor to play Harry Potter was the biggest challenge; 5,000 hopefuls auditioned and none of them felt right. Director Chris Columbus saw Daniel Radcliffe in David Copperfield (1999) and showed it to the casting director, saying Radcliffe was the one and that he was wonderful. However, he said they could not have him because his parents wanted him to focus on his schoolwork rather than acting and to avoid the attention. So they interviewed Harry Potters of different nationalities from all over the world and still could not find him. Columbus grew frustrated because Columbus had set his heart on Radcliffe. By complete coincidence, the producer and screenwriter of Philosopher's Stone went to the theatre and Radcliffe was in the front row with his father, so they talked and gradually persuaded him to cast Radcliffe.
- #040
One of her favourite films is The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), written and directed by "Harry Potter" screenwriter Steve Kloves.
- #050
In her youth, after earning a degree from the University of Exeter, she became fluent in French, studying in Paris for a year as part of her time at university, and worked in London as a researcher and bilingual secretary.
- #054
She graduated from the University of Exeter.
- #055
When Chris Columbus wrote the screenplay for Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Watson believed Holmes was obsessed with a case even at Christmas because, unlike other children his age, he had no family to go home to, much like Harry Potter and Kevin McCallister, and Columbus had ties to the Harry Potter and Home Alone series.
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