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Who Is Rudyard Kipling?

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Rudyard Kipling was a writer. He is the author of the well-known novel, "The Jungle Book". Kipling was born in Bombay, in British India, in 1865.

Early life

Kipling was named after Rudyard Lake, which is located in Rudyard, England and is where his parents met. He attended the United Services College in 1978. His experiences at the school became the inspiration for "Stalky & Co", which details the lives of adolescent boys at a British Boarding School. 

Kipling failed to get into Oxford University and instead took on a job as an editor for the Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore. During his time working with the Gazette, he published a number of stories, many of which appeared in his first collection of stories, which was entitled "Plain Tales from the Hills".

Later, in 1887, Kipling left his job with the Gazette after being sent to work for a sister newspaper, The Pioneer. For this, he travelled to Allahabad, in the United Provinces. During his time with The Pioneer, he published many more short stories. Later, after selling his rights to his stories, he did a lot of travelling whilst writing articles for the paper.

A few years later, in 1892, Kipling married a woman named Carrie Balestier, whom he had met around 1890. She was the sister of a publishing agent named Wolcott Balestier, with whom Kipling had previously worked on a novel. 
Kipling had proposed to Balestier’s sister after Balestier died from typhoid fever. Their first child, a daughter, was born in the same year that they married. Four years later, a second child was born. 
By the time his third child was born in 1897, Kipling was already famous. In 1899, during a visit to the United States, Kipling and his eldest child became ill from pneumonia. Kipling recovered, but his daughter died.

Writing career

Kipling began working on "The Jungle Book" in Bliss Cottage, which was where his first child was born. He came up with the idea of a boy being raised by wolves, and this led to him writing "The Jungle Book". 
There were three Jungle Books in total, each containing a selection of stories. The first one was published in 1894 and the stories were first published in magazines. The original edition of "The Jungle Book" contained illustrations that were based on the art of Kipling’s father.

The sequel, which was entitled "The Second Jungle Book", was published in 1895. It featured the character Mowgli, who was originally in the first collection of stories.

The third part, entitled "The Third Jungle Book" was not written by Kipling, but instead by Pamela Jekel. Jekel wrote the books in Kipling’s style, but added a few phrases and plots that were different to Kipling’s originals. The second and third parts were not as well known as the first one, which has become one of Kipling’s most famous works.

In addition to his novels and short stories, Kipling also wrote a selection of poems. His collection of poems was published in "The Seven Seas". 
Several of his poems were also published in the "Barrack-Room Ballads", which was published in two parts, the first in 1892 and the second in 1896.

Later life and death

By the early 1900s, Kipling’s work was widely recognised. A collection of stories for children was published in 1902. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He was also due to receive a knighthood but turned it down. He also declined The British Poet Laureateship.

After the death of his daughter, Kipling later faced more tragedy when his son died in 1915 in the Battle of Loos. This led to Kipling writing the poem "My Boy Jack", which has been adapted to both play and television.

Kipling continued to write up until his death in 1926, at the age of 70. After being cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, Kipling’s ashes were placed in Poet’s Corner, which is located in Westminster Abbey and is where many famous poets, writers and playwrights are buried.

Many of Kipling's works, including original illustrations for his novels, can be explored in a number of museums.

Film Adaptations

There have been many film adaptations of Kipling’s works. The most notable is perhaps the Disney film adaptation of "The Jungle Book". 
A live action adaptation was released in 1942 and was an American colour adaptation. This adaptation was successful and was nominated for four academy awards.

The Disney adaptation was released in 1967. The film, which was Disney’s 19th animated feature, contains a number of songs that have now become very popular. It became available on video in the 1980s and there have since been many re-releases, including a DVD edition in 2007. The film nearly won an Academy award for Best Song in 1967. 
A direct-to-video sequel to the film was released in 2003. Many of the characters from the film were also featured in "TaleSpin", which was an animated television series that aired from 1994-1998. There was also an animated series named "Jungle Cubs" which aired from 1996-1998 and explored the adventures of many of the animal characters as cubs.

In 1994, Disney released another adaptation of the film, this time a live action remake of the 1967 animated film. The 1994 film, which included trained animals, was also made into a video game, which was released in 1996.

In 1997, a live action adaptation of "The Second Jungle Book" entitled "The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo" was released. The following year, a live action adaptation by Disney was released directly to video.

There was also another animated feature film adaptation, entitled "Adventures of Mowgli", which was released as shorts, the first one being released in the same year as the Disney animated feature and the last being released in 1973.

A play of Kipling’s poem, "My Boy Jack" was released in 1997. In 2007, a television film adaptation was released, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Jack Kipling. The film, which had the same title as the poem and the play, was based on the play and premiered in the United States the following year.

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