Writer / Author / Artist / Poet
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JRR Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien), CBE was a writer, artist and poet responsible for the highly successful classic fantasy series, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
It all began when I was reading exam papers to earn a bit of extra money. That was agony. One of the tragedies of the underpaid professor is that he has to do menial jobs. He is expected to maintain a certain position and to send his children to good schools. Well, one day I came to a blank page in an exam book and I scribbled on it. ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Tolkien had originally written The Hobbit for his own children, but in 1936 it came to the attention of Susan Dagnall an employee at George Allen & Unwin (a London Publishing Company). She persuaded Tolkien to submit the manuscript for publication and when a year later it attracted adult readers as well as children, the publishers to asked Tolkien to produce a sequel.
I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size). I like gardens, trees, and unmechanised farmlands; I smoke a pipe, and like good plain food (unrefrigerated), but detest French cooking; I like, and even dare to wear in these dull days, ornamental waistcoats. I am fond of mushrooms (out of a field); have a very simple sense of humor (which even my appreciative critics find tiresome); I go to bed late and get up late (when possible). I do not travel much.
The Lord of the Rings was originally published in three volumes (1954-1955). It became very popular in the 1960s and has remained so ever since. Tolkien sold the film, stage and merchandise rights of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1968.
From 2001 to 2003, New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings as a trilogy of live-action films that were filmed in New Zealand and directed by Peter Jackson. The series was hugely successful and did extremely well commercially and also winning numerous Oscars.
From 2012 to 2014, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema released The Hobbit which was developed as a series of three films based. The first instalment, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) and the last part, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, in December 2014.
On 13 November 2017, it was announced that Amazon had acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings.
To date The Lord of the Rings has sold over 150 million copies.
Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972
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