Biography for
Neil Gaiman More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

10 November 1960, Portchester, England, UK

Birth Name

Neil R. Gaiman

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Spouse

Mary T. McGrath

(1985 - ?) (divorced) 3 children

Trade Mark

Black T-shirt.

Often titles his stories after song names, particularly ones by Lou Reed, Joy Division, and Broadway standards.

Trivia

Is good friends with Tori Amos, who makes references to him on different songs of hers. He, in addition, has based the character "Foxglove", who appears in his comic books "Sandman" and "Death - the high cost of Living", on her.

Featured writer in "Born To Be Wild" comic book speaking out against animal cruelty.

Sandman won him the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for best writer (1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994), best continuing series (1991, 1992 and 1993), best graphic album-- reprint (1991), and the Best New Graphic Album (1993)

The series also won the Harvey Award for best writer (1990, 1991) and best continuing series (1992)

Sandman #19 took the 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story (making it the first comic ever to be awarded a literary award).

He is an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity at Emerson College.

In 1992, he moved his family -- wife Mary, son Michael, and daughter Holly Gaiman -- to Minneapolis, Minnesota, from England.

He sued "Spawn" creator Todd McFarlane for violation of copyright and non-payment of royalties in January, 2002. The case went to court in October 2002, when the seven-person federal jury in Wisconsin took three days to decide in favor of Gaiman, agreeing that McFarlane used Gaiman's created characters without permission or compensation. Gaiman was awarded $45,000 plus court costs.

Claims a new addiction to Calamansi Juice, a citrus fruit product of the Philippines, when he enjoyed many bottles of it while on a recent book tour of Asia, spending several days and nights in Manila.

His wife Mary, an American, is four years older than Neil.

Lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin, with his wife Mary, two daughters Holly and Maddy, and son Mike. [2005]

He has won 4 Stoker Awards from the Horror Fiction Writers of America (2003 for Sandman: Endless Nights, 2002 for Coraline, 2001 for American Gods, and 1999 for Sandman: The Dream Hunters). He's been nominated for the Stokers for 4 other works of fiction as well.

The Hugo Awards are given at the World Science Fiction Convention and the winners are voted on by all attending members. Neil has won 3 Hugos (2004 for the short story "A Study in Emerald", 2003 for Coraline, and 2002 for American Gods).

The World Fantasy Awards are given at the World Fantasy Convention and the winners are voted on by all attending members. Neil has won once (1991 in the short fiction category for his comic book arc from Sandman called "A Midsummer Night's Dream). He's been nominated for 6 additional works.

Babylon 5 Producer J. Michael Straczynski was so impressed with Gaiman's writing he named an alien race after him, the Gaim, who have a visual similarity to Gaiman's Sandman character.

Personal Quotes

"It's not a bad thing for a writer not to feel at home. Writers - we're much more comfortable at parties standing in the corner watching everybody else having a good time than we are mingling."

"This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubt on their existence. Or lack thereof."

"We all not only could know everything. We do. We just tell ourselves we don't to make it all bearable."

"It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak."

"Firstly, there is no such person as Death. Second, Death's this tall guy with a bone face, like a skeletal monk, with a scythe and an hourglass and a big white horse and a penchant for playing chess with Scandinavians. Third, he doesn't exist either."

I was a "bookie" kid. I was one those kids who had books on them. Before weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, funerals and anything else where you're actually meant to not be reading, my family would frisk me and take the book away. If they didn't find it by this point in the procedure, I would be sitting over in that corner completely unnoticed just reading my book.

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