J.K. Rowling biography

Rowling, now Britain's 13th wealthiest woman—wealthier than even the Queen—does not plan to write any more books in the series, but has not entirely ruled out the possibility.

A film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, directed by Chris Columbus, was released in November 2001. In its opening weekend in the U.S., the film debuted on a record 8,200 screens and smashed the previous box-office record,

earning an estimated $93.5 million ($20 million more than the previous recordholder, 1999's The Lost World: Jurassic Park). It ended the year as the top-grossing movie of 2001. The second and third films in the series opened in November 2002 and June 2004 respectively, each enjoying similar record-breaking box-office success. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, directed by Mike Newell, was released in 2005. The fifth movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, released in July 2007, featured screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, who replaced Steve Kloves, writer of the first four films. In 2009, the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is scheduled to hit theaters on July 17. The movie is expected to gross several million at the box office. The Potter films are scheduled to come to an end in 2011.

After 'Harry Potter'

Although J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series is finished, the author continues to work on more written works. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a collection of five fables mentioned in the Harry Potter book series, was released on November 4, 2008—at a tea party for 200 schoolchildren at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh. Rowling donated all royalties from the book to the Children's High Level Group, a charity that Rowling co-founded to support institutionalized children in Eastern Europe, which has since been renamed Lumos.

Rowling's first book aimed at adults, The Casual Vacancy, was published in September 2012. The novel, a dark comedy about a local election in the small English town of Pagford, received mixed reviews. A book review in The New York Times called the novel "disappointing" and "dull." A review in The Telegraph, however, gave the book three out of five stars, stating that the novel is "Rowling on bodkin-sharp comic form in the early pages ... Jane Austen herself would admire the way [Rowling] shows the news of Barry’s death spreading like a virus round Pagford."

Rowling is also reportedly working on a new Harry Potter-related book. On her website, she announced that she will write "an encyclopedia of Harry's world" and the royalties from this volume will be donated to charity.

Personal Life

On December 26, 2001, J.K. Rowling married anesthetist Dr. Neil Murray at the couple's home in Scotland. They have two children together, David (b.2003) and Mackenzie (b. 2005). Rowling has one child, Jessica (b. 1993), from her previous marriage.

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