Salman Rushdie Age, Wife, Children, Biography, Facts & More

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Bio
Real Name	Ahmed Salman Rushdie
Profession	Novelist, Essayist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 170 cm in meters- 1.70 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 7”
Weight (approx.)	in Kilograms- 85 kg in Pounds- 187 lbs
Eye Colour	Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper (Semi-Bald)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	19 June 1947
Age (as in 2017)	70 Years
Birth Place	Bombay (now Mumbai), British India
Zodiac sign/Sun sign	Gemini
Signature
Nationality	British
Hometown	Cambridge, England
School	Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay Rugby School, Warwickshire, England
College/University	King's College, University of Cambridge, England
Educational Qualification	Master's Degree in History
Debut	Novel: Grimus (1975, Science Fiction)
Family	Father- Anis Ahmed Rushdie (Lawyer-turned-Businessman) Mother- Negin Bhatt (Teacher) Brother- 1 Sisters- 3
Ethnicity	Indian (Kashmiri)
Religion	Atheist
Hobbies	Reading, Horse Riding
Controversy	• Salman Rushdie was criticized for portraying Islam and Prophet Muhammad in a bad light in his 1988 novel- The Satanic Verses. Things turned worse when the leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeni issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death for insulting the Prophet. While Rushdie was fortunate enough to escape physical harm, the book's Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death in 1991, the Italian translator, Ettore Capriolo, was seriously wounded in a stabbing incident the same year and the Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was shot three times in an attempted assassination in 1993 but survived. Even to this day, the book remains banned in most of the nations. • Padma Lakshmi, Rushdie's ex-wife, wrote and published a memoir in 2016. In the book, she claimed that Rushdie was concerned with only physical pleasures and could never be an "understandable husband." She added that once Rushdie even referred to her as a 'bad investment.'
Major Awards/Achievements	• Awarded the European Union's Aristeion Prize in 1996. • Chosen as the "author of the year" in both Britain and Germany in 1996. • Awarded the Booker Prize for his second novel, Midnight's Children, in 1971. • Bestowed with the "Booker of Bookers" for the best novel among the Booker Prize winners for Fiction; awarded at its 25th anniversary. • Honoured with the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). • Won the 2010 Golden Pen Award.
Favourite Things
Favourite Authors/Poets	Franz Kafka, Charles Dickens, James Joyce
Favourite Books	"Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, "Genghis Khan" by Jack Weatherford, "The White Album" by Joan Didion, "Humboldt’s Gift" by Saul Bellow, "Clear Light of Day" by Anita Desai
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Divorced
Affairs/Girlfriends	Riya Sen, Indian Actress Rosario Dawson, Hollywood Actress Olivia Wilde, Hollywood Actress Pia Glenn, Actress Topaz Page-Green, Model Nikki Milovanovic, Canadian Pop-star (40 years younger than him)
Wife(s)/Spouse(s)	Clarissa Luard (m. 1976-1987) Marianne Wiggins, American Novelist (m. 1988-1993) Elizabeth West (m. 1997-2004) Padma Lakshmi, Indian-American Model & Actress (m. 2004-2007)
Money Factor
Net Worth	$15 Million

Some Lesser Known Facts About Salman Rushdie

Does Salman Rushdie smoke: Not Known

Does Salman Rushdie drink alcohol: Yes

Rushdie was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), British India to a Muslim family of Kashmiri heritage. His father, Anil Rushdie, was once dismissed from the prestigious Indian Civil Services (ICS) after the British government found out that he had produced a forged date of birth proof.

It is believed that the husband of Rushdie’s maternal aunt is the mind behind Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency- Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Rushdie turned down a scholarship offered by Balliol College, Oxford to attend Kings College, Cambridge, the same college from which his father had once graduated. However, unlike his father who was a bright student, Rushdie could only manage a below-average grade point score of 2.2.

After finishing college, Rushdie made an unsuccessful attempt at acting and production; he worked as a small time actor in London, a television station producer in Karachi and even tried his hands at writing.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Rushdie worked as a copywriter for advertising agencies like Ogilvy & Mather, and Ayer Barker. During his stint with the latter, he wrote many popular slogans for a number of companies like American Express (That’ll do nicely), Aero Chocolates (“irresistibubble”), etc.

Salman Rushdie had a disastrous beginning to his writing career as his debut book, Grimus, could barely sell a few copies. However, things turned back in his favour, 6 years later, when the author published his second book titled ‘Midnight’s Children’. Not only did the book become a huge hit among readers from all walks of life, it also fetched him the prestigious Booker Prize.

All was going well in his life until he wrote the highly controversial book- The Satanic Verses (1988), which reportedly portrays Islam and Prophet Muhammad in a bad light. Rushdie had to ‘run’ for his life when the spiritual leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa on Radio Tehran for Rushdie’s execution. Widespread violence and riots broke out across the world, forcing Rushdie to spend the next 10 years of his life under police protection.

Even during these hard times, Rushdie did not stop writing, Fortunately enough, this time he chose children’s stories, a subject that was least likely to create another controversy!

When Iran restored peaceful relations with Britain in 1998, it released a statement which allowed Rushdie to heave a sigh of relief. “The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has no intention, nor is going to take any action whatsoever to threaten the life of the author of the Satanic Verses, or anybody associated with that work, nor will it encourage or assist anybody to do so,” read the statement.