101 Dalmatians [Movies]

Number of different pieces by this author: 1

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Cruella de Vil

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Author Introduction

Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. Pongo, the canine protagonist of The Hundred and One Dalmatians, was named after Smith's own pet Dalmatian, the first of nine. Smith got the idea for her novel when a friend remarked at her own dalmatians: “Those dogs would make a lovely fur coat!”

Dorothy was born on 3 May 1896 in Whitefield, near Bury in Lancashire. She authored her first play, Autumn Crocus, in 1931 under the pseudonym C.L. Anthony. Its success, and the discovery of her identity by journalists, inspired the newspaper headline, "Shopgirl Writes Play". She spent most of her years as a writer living in a townhouse in London, where a plaque now commemorates her occupation.

While living in the U.S. and feeling homesick for England, she wrote her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948).Smith is best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956) (which was adapted into the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians). Her novel I Capture the Castle also has a devoted following (a film version was released in 2003).

Smith died in 1990 after naming Julian Barnes as her literary executor, a job she felt would not be much work.