Interesting Facts About Salvador Dali
Salvador Dali believed he was his dead brother reborn, walked a pet anteater through Paris on a leash, designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo, and once nearly suffocated giving a lecture in a deep sea diving suit. The facts about him are as strange as his paintings.
With Dali, the line between true story and self made legend is almost gone, but these are real.
Here are the facts that surprise people most.
The headline facts
Dead brother: he was named after a brother who died, and believed he was his reincarnation.
Exotic pets: he kept an ocelot and walked an anteater on a leash.
The lollipop: he designed the Chupa Chups logo.
The diving suit: he nearly suffocated lecturing inside one.
His fears: he dreaded grasshoppers and hated being touched.
The brother he thought he was
Dali was named Salvador after an older brother who had died before he was born.
His parents told the young boy he was his brother come back, and he believed it for life. He said he spent his whole career trying to prove he was the living Salvador, not the dead one.
The anteater and the ocelot
Dali loved to travel with animals that turned heads. He kept an ocelot named Babou, took it to restaurants, and once told an alarmed diner it was just an ordinary cat he had painted.
In Paris he was photographed walking a giant anteater on a leash, as calmly as a man with a dog. The whole performance was the point.
He designed the Chupa Chups logo
In 1969 the founder of Chupa Chups asked Dali to redesign the lollipop's logo. He sketched the bright daisy shape with the brand name inside it.
Crucially, he insisted the logo sit on top of the wrapper, not the side, so it would always be seen whole. With small changes, it is still on the sweets today.
The diving suit that nearly killed him
At a 1936 Surrealist show in London, Dali gave a lecture wearing a full deep sea diving suit, to show he was plunging into the depths of the mind.
The helmet was bolted shut, and he began to suffocate. The audience thought his frantic gestures were part of the act, until friends pried the helmet off with a tool. He nearly died for a metaphor.
Hollywood and Disney
Dali's imagination reached the screen too. He designed the eerie dream sequence for Alfred Hitchcock's film Spellbound.
He also worked with Walt Disney on a short film called Destino. Started in 1946, it was abandoned, and finally finished and released in 2003, long after both men were dead.
FAQ with Salvador Dali facts
Was he named after his brother? Yes, a brother who died before Dali was born.
Did he keep pets? Yes, an ocelot and a leashed anteater, among others.
Did he design Chupa Chups? Yes, the lollipop logo in 1969.
What is the diving suit story? He nearly suffocated lecturing in one in 1936.
Did he work with Disney? Yes, on a short film called Destino.
Even a lollipop was a canvas
Next time you unwrap a Chupa Chups, look at the daisy on the lid.
Dali designed it in an afternoon and demanded it go on top, where it could never be missed. The whole strange life is in Salvador Dali: The Complete Story, and his famous moustache has its own tale.