Trivia

His love of language was nurtured by his mother who read to him on those frequent occasions when he was sick in bed with asthma, bronchitis, and colds. The adult Thomas suffered more from alcoholism than asthma. He died at age 39.

He engaged in the bout of drinking that lead to his death at the White Horse Tavern in West Village section of New York City.

He wrote a number of screenplays during the 1940s, being usually paid £250 per script. The screenplays for "The Doctor and the Devils" and "Rebecca's Daughters" were both published long before they were turned into films; these scripts, both somewhat re-written, became films well over thirty years after their author's death.

Dylan and Caitlin are buried side by side in Laugharne, S. Wales, UK His grave is marked by a simple wooden cross.

He is on the sleeve artwork of the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" by The Beatles (released in 1967). Because of his legendary alcoholism, which led to his death, he is also one of several famous and tragic figures from history to be featured on the sleeve artwork of the album "Clutching at Straws" by rock band Marillion (released in 1987).

His children: Llewelyn Edouard Thomas, born January 30 1939; Aeronwy Bryn Thomas, born March 1942; and Colm Garan Hart Thomas, born July 1949.

In Dangerous Minds (1995), Michelle Pfeiffer's character assigns her students a "Dylan/Dylan" exam: they have to try and find a Dylan Thomas poem and Bob Dylan song that have a similar theme.

"Under Milk Wood" has a joke running through it about Thomas's antipathy to Wales: "Llareggub", the name of the charming setting, is "Buggerall" spelled backwards.

Although Thomas's legendary drinking habits are usually blamed for his early death, many believe that it was more due to the incompetence of the American doctors treating him. The official cause of death listed on his death certificate is "an insult to the brain" - a phrase which, of course, has no meaning in medical parlance.