Dylan Marlais Thomas (1914–1953) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

poet and writer who — along with his work — has been remembered and referred to by a number of artists in various media.

In art

Alfred Janes Alfred George Janes (30 June 1911 – 3 February 1999) was a Welsh artist, who worked in Swansea and Croydon. He experimented with many forms, but is best known for his meticulous still lifes and portraits. He is also remembered as one of The K ...

' 1934 portrait of Thomas is held by the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. Janes, like Thomas was a member of The Kardomah Gang or The Kardomah Boys, a group of bohemian Swansea friends who met at the Kardomah Café, in Castle Street,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. Janes created three portraits of Thomas, the first of which, painted in Coleherne Road in 1934, is oil on canvas and displays Janes's technique at this period of cutting lines into the paint with his pen-knife, to provide relief and focus. *Between 1937 and 1938,

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

produced two portraits of Thomas. One of these is held by the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, acquired in 1942. *Two portraits of Thomas by the artist

Rupert Shephard Rupert Norman Shephard (12 February 1909 – 16 March 1992) was an English painter, illustrator and art teacher. Early life Shephard was born in Islington, the son of an engineer and a charity worker, who were both Quakers and keen amateu ...

, who would in later life marry

Nicolette Macnamara Nicolette Macnamara (later Devas then Shephard, 1 February 1911 – 10 May 1987), was a British artist and author who was active in the work of PEN International. Biography Macnamara was the eldest of the four children born to Francis Macnamar ...

, an elder sister of

Caitlin Thomas Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until Dy ...

, are in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

In literature

*The poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by American poet

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (1905–1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider h ...

bears the subtitle "A Memorial for Dylan Thomas". *In issue #26 of the

Vertigo Comics Vertigo Comics, also known as DC Vertigo or simply Vertigo, was an imprint of American comic book publisher DC Comics started by editor Karen Berger in 1993. Vertigo's purpose was to publish comics with adult content, such as nudity, drug use, ...

series ''

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

'', Thomas is depicted as a previous acquaintance of the character

Cassidy Cassidy may refer to: Personal names * Cassidy (given name) * Cassidy (surname) People * Cassidy (musician) (born 1979), lead singer of Antigone Rising * Cassidy (rapper) (born 1982), American rapper * DJ Cassidy (born 1981), New York DJ * Jame ...

. Cassidy is with Thomas when he collapses outside the White Horse Tavern, Thomas's last words being "The trouble with you fuckin' Irish is, you don't know how to drink..." *In his 1963 book ''

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a popular playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a ch ...

'',

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...

makes several references to Thomas. *In Charles Bukowski's short story This is what killed Dylan Thomas from 1973 book ''South'' ''of no North','' the protagonist makes several references to Dylan Thomas. *The 1986

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...

novel

The Old Devils ''The Old Devils'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1986. The novel won the Booker Prize. The plot centres on Alun Weaver, a writer of modest celebrity, who returns to his native Wales with his wife, Rhiannon, sometime girlfriend ...

features frequent references to "Brydan", a thinly disguised characterization of Thomas. *In her 2010 book '' Matched'',

Ally Condie Allyson Braithwaite Condie is an author of young adult and middle grade fiction."Ally Cond ...

references Thomas' poem "

Do not go gentle into that good night "Do not go gentle into that good night" is a poem in the form of a villanelle by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), and is one of his best-known works. Though first published in the journal ''Botteghe Oscure'' in 1951, the poem was written in ...

". * In Chapter 13 of his 2012 novel ''All I Did Was Shoot My Man (A Leonid McGill mystery)'' crime novelist

Walter Mosley Walter Ellis Mosley (born January 12, 1952) is an American novelist, most widely recognized for his crime fiction. He has written a series of best-selling historical mysteries featuring the hard-boiled detective Easy Rawlins, a black private inv ...

recounts a street poet's talk in a New York bar: ::"....among many of the recognised and lauded lights of the New York poetry scene the allure of Dylan Thomas has faded... They criticise everything from his depth of linguistic complexity to the obvious melodrama of his most well-known works. But what these poetry pontiffs fail to understand was that Thomas was a people's poet, a man that connected song and metre and the concerns of every human being living their lives and suffering the consequences. His work, in its every repetition, fights for the survival and lifeblood or a form that most so-called great poets have moved beyond the reach of the common man ..."

In music

Settings of Thomas's work

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

wrote "In memoriam Dylan Thomas: Dirge canons and song" (1954) for tenor voice, string quartet, and four trombones, based on "

." (Stravinsky and Thomas were considering a joint new opera). *

Paul Dirmeikis Paul Dirmeikis (born 1954) is a French-speaking poet, composer, singer, and painter who lives in Brittany, France. He is of Lithuanian ancestry, and a member of the Lithuanian Composers Union. Dirmeikis was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a writ ...

set to music the poems "Song" and "Your Pain Shall Be A Music". *American composer

Robert Manno Robert Manno (born 1944, Bryn Mawr, Pa) is the composer of numerous chamber and orchestral works, song cycles and solo piano and choral works. The Atlanta Audio Society has called him "a composer of serious music of considerable depth and spiritual ...

set the following poems to music: **"Fern Hill" (1973) for baritone and chamber ensemble, premiered in New York City 1974; **"And Death Shall Have No Dominion" for chorus and harp (2001), premiered at St. Martin's Church in

Laugharne Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival i ...

, commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Thomas' death in 2003; **"In my craft or sullen art" for baritone and orchestra (2007), serving as 'Dylan's Aria' in a recently completed (2013) full-length opera on Thomas' last days: ''Dylan & Caitlin'' (libretto by Welsh playwright Gwynne Edwards). *Composer David Diamond set ''I Have Longed to Move Away'' for voice and piano in 1968. *In 1981, American composer William Mayer, set the poem "Fern Hill" to music for a trio of soprano, flute and harp. *

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

set a number of Thomas's poems to music: ''There was a saviour'', ''Do not go gentle into that good night'', ''On a Wedding Anniversary'' and ''Lie still, sleep becalmed'', recording them in his 1989 album ''

Words for the Dying ''Words for the Dying'' is the twelfth solo studio album by Welsh musician John Cale, released in 1989 by record labels Opal and Warner Bros. Content The album consists mainly of oral work, read or sung by Cale. It was written in 1982 as a respo ...

'' and (except for the first one) in his 1992 solo live album ''

Fragments of a Rainy Season ''Fragments of a Rainy Season'' is a 1992 live solo album by John Cale, performed at various locations during his 1992 tour. A 16-track DVD, recorded at the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts, now BOZAR) in Brussels, Belgium, ...

''. Notable among these is "Do not go gentle into that good night", which he performed on stage in the concert held in Cardiff in 1999 to celebrate the opening of the

Welsh Assembly The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

. He also has a song titled "A Child's Christmas in Wales," the title being an homage to Dylan Thomas's work but with different lyrics and subject. *In 1996, Belgian composer

Henri Lazarof Henri Lazarof (Bulgarian: Хенри Лазаров) (April 12, 1932 – December 29, 2013) was a Bulgarian-American composer. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, his formal musical training began in Israel under Paul Ben-Haim. After a short stint in Rome, ...

, released ''Encounters with Dylan Thomas, for soprano & chamber ensemble'', comprising ten compositions based on the poet's work; including "Your Pain Shall be a Music", "In My Craft or Sullen Art" and "Shall gods be said to thump the clouds". *American vocal group

Cantus A cantus (Latin for "singing", derived from ''cantare''), is an activity organised by Belgian, Dutch, French, and Baltic fraternities. A cantus mainly involves singing traditional songs and drinking beer. It is governed by strict traditional ru ...

, performed two poems set to choral works, with music by Kenneth Jennings, on their 2001 album ''...Against the Dying of the Light''. The two poems are combined under the title "Two Laments on Dylan Thomas". *2002: ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' for SATB choir and orchestra, written by Matthew Harris. *2003: ''The Dylan Thomas Jazz Suite 'Twelve Poems' set for Quintet and Voice'', by Jen Wilson, commissioned by the Dylan Thomas Centre. Issued on CD in 2010. *

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, in his 2004 album ''

Beat Cafe ''Beat Cafe'' is the 23rd studio album, and 28th album overall, from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It is his first collection containing newly written songs since his 1996 album ''Sutras''. ''Beat Cafe'' was released worldwide (Appleseed R ...

'', set to music the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night". *Singer-songwriter Keith James has set a number of Thomas' works to music. *2014: Composer

Andrew Lewis Andrew Lewis may refer to: Law and politics * Sir Andrew J. W. Lewis (1875-1952), Scottish businessman and politician; Lord Provost of Aberdeen * Andrew L. Lewis Jr. (1931–2016), American railroad executive and US Secretary of Transportation *And ...

set ''Fern Hill'' to music for Orchestra and Electronics. This used an actual recording of Thomas' speech, in which Thomas takes the melodic line. The work was premiered at

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

on 3 October and was performed by the

BBC National Orchestra of Wales The BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) ( cy, Cerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC) is a Welsh symphony orchestra and one of the BBC's five professional radio orchestras. The BBC NOW is the only professional symphony orchestra organisatio ...

, as part of the "My Friend Dylan Thomas" event. * Rogers and Clarke set The Hand that Signed the Paper to music.

Musical compositions inspired by Thomas works

*The ''

Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" ''Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood"'' is an album by the English pianist Stan Tracey and his quartet, that was released by the Columbia subsidiary of EMI in 1965. The music was written in response to the 1953 BBC radio pla ...

'', a 1965 album by British pianist

Stan Tracey Stanley William Tracey (30 December 1926 – 6 December 2013) was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's best known recording is the 1965 album ''Jazz Suite Inspir ...

, was inspired by Thomas's play. *In December 2011 Stan Tracey, with his son drummer

Clark Tracey Clark Tracey (born 5 February 1961) is a British jazz drummer, band leader, and composer. Career Tracey was born in London, England. He first played piano and vibraphone before switching to drums at age 13, studying under Bryan Spring. Tracey ...

and saxophonist Simon Allen, premiered his interpretation of "

A Child's Christmas in Wales ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' is a piece of prose by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas recorded by Thomas in 1952. Emerging from an earlier piece he wrote for BBC Radio, the work is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a ...

" at the King's Place arts venue in Camden. *The indie-rock band Evans The Death, formed in London in 2011, take their name from the undertaker in ''Under Milk Wood''. *

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbur ...

wrote a tribute to Thomas called "For Mr. Thomas" on his album '' Songs of Love and Parting''. *''Do Not Go Gentle'', a full-length opera on the last days of Dylan Thomas with music by

and libretto by Gwynne Edwards. It was premiered on 1 August 2015.

In film and television

Depictions of Thomas

*1962: ''

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

'', a short,

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning, documentary film with

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

as narrator, directed by

Jack Howells Thomas John Howells (July 1913 – 6 September 1990) was a Welsh film-maker, who is best remembered for his documentary ''Dylan Thomas'', the only Welsh film to have won an Academy Award, for Documentary Short Subject in 1963. Career Howells was ...

. *1964: '' Dylan'', a Broadway play by

Sidney Michaels Sidney Michaels (August 17, 1927 – April 22, 2011, aged 83) was an American playwright best known for the early and mid 1960s works ''Tchin-Tchin'', '' Dylan'', and ''Ben Franklin in Paris ''Ben Franklin in Paris'' is a musical with a book and ...

, starring

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

as Dylan Thomas and

Kate Reid Daphne Katherine Reid (4 November 1930 – 27 March 1993) was an English-born Canadian stage, film, and television actress. She played more than one thousand roles, most notably onstage in ''Death of a Salesman'', in the 1980 film ''Atlantic Ci ...

as Caitlin. *1978: ''Dylan: Life and Death of a Poet'', a

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

film of Thomas' final two visits to America; starring

Ronald Lacey Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' Ch ...

and produced by Richard Lewis. *1990–91: ''Dylan Thomas: Return Journey'', a one-man stage show that toured internationally, featuring Bob Kingdom as Thomas and directed by

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

. Hopkins later directed a film version of the stage play, to which he also wrote the musical score. *2008: ''

The Edge of Love ''The Edge of Love'' is a 2008 British biographical romantic drama film directed by John Maybury and starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys. The script was written by Knightley's mother, Sharman Macdonald. Origi ...

'' starring

Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Kevin Walker in '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in ''The Americans'' (2013–2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Awar ...

as the poet, directed by

John Maybury John Maybury (born 25 March 1958) is an English filmmaker and artist. He first came to prominence as the director of the music video for the Pet Shop Boys 1984 single "West End Girls". In 2005 he was named as one of the 100 most influential gay ...

, written by

Sharman Macdonald Sharman Macdonald (born 8 February 1951) is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and actress. Life and career Macdonald was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Janet Rewat (née Williams) and Joseph Henry Hosgood MacDonald. She has Scottish and We ...

, and drawing on David N. Thomas' book ''Dylan Thomas: A Farm, Two Mansions and a Bungalow''. *2014: The TV drama ''

A Poet in New York A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' was created to mark the centenary of his birth, and starred

Tom Hollander Thomas Anthony Hollander (; born 25 August 1967) is an English actor. As a child Hollander trained with the National Youth Theatre and was later involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and was president of the Marlowe Soci ...

as Thomas. *2014: In the semi-autobiographical film ''

Set Fire to the Stars ''Set Fire to the Stars'' is a 2014 Welsh semi-biographical drama film directed by Andy Goddard in his directorial debut. Co-written by Goddard and Celyn Jones, the film stars Elijah Wood as poet John M. Brinnin and Jones as Dylan Thomas with s ...

'' Thomas is portrayed by Celyn Jones and John Brinnin by

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012). Wood ...

. *2016: ''

Dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

'', a film written and directed by Steven Bernstein, examines Thomas' final hours. Thomas is portrayed by

Rhys Ifans Rhys Ifans (; born Rhys Owain Evans; 22 July 1967) is a Welsh actor and musician. He was the frontman of Welsh rock music bands the Peth and Super Furry Animals. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), ''Kevin & ...

Other

* ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1972 British drama film directed by

Andrew Sinclair Andrew Annandale Sinclair FRSL FRSA (21 January 1935 – 30 May 2019) was a British novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker, and a publisher of classic and modern film scripts. He has been described as a "writer of extraordinary flu ...

and based on the play for voices ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...

''. It starred

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

and

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

. Like the book it portrays the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh village Llareggub. *In the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

show ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

'', 45 participants have selected a Dylan Thomas recording.

Passing references in TV, film and popular music

* In the second season of '' The Librarians'', in 2015, Jacob Stone mentions Thomas by name in the episode "And the Image of Image", and then in the third-season episode "And the Reunion of Evil" he quotes Thomas's poem "Do not go gentle into that good night". * In the episode "

Fore Father The second season of '' Family Guy'' first aired on the Fox network in 21 episodes from September 23, 1999, to August 1, 2000. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stew ...

" of the cartoon ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', an ill

Stewie Griffin Stewart "Stewie" Gilligan Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series ''Family Guy''. He was born in 1998 and is voiced by the series creator Seth MacFarlane and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Gr ...

tells himself: "Fight it Stewie, fight it. 'Do not go gentle into that good night,' to quote

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. Wait, no, wait,

." *In the 1980s comedy film ''

Back to School ''Back to School'' is a 1986 American comedy film starring Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Terry Farrell, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Paxton Whitehead and Robert Downey Jr. It was directed by Alan Met ...

'',

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I don't get no resp ...

performs a silly, melodramatic reading of the poem "

." *In the 2002 film ''

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

'', Chris Kelvin (

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...

) reads the first stanza of "

And death shall have no dominion "And death shall have no dominion" is a poem written by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914–1953). The title comes from St. Paul's epistle to the Romans (6:9). Publication history In early 1933 Thomas befriended Bert Trick, a grocer who worked in the ...

". *In the 1994 film ''

Before Sunrise ''Before Sunrise'' is a 1995 romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater and co-written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The first installment in the ''Before'' trilogy, it follows Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) as they meet ...

'',

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

's character mimics Dylan Thomas's voice, reading a fragment from the well-known poem "As I Walked Out One Evening" written by

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

. *In the film ''

Dangerous Minds ''Dangerous Minds'' is a 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 too ...

'', the teacher (

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. A prolific performer whose List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, screen work spans over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and ...

) asks her students to compare

with Dylan Thomas, and one quotes from the poem.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
* The 2001

-directed film ''

Chelsea Walls ''Chelsea Walls'' is a 2001 independent film directed by Ethan Hawke and released by Lions Gate Entertainment. It is based on the 1990 play ''Chelsea Walls'' by Nicole Burdette. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, Natasha R ...

'' has a Dylan Thomas poem written on a hotel room wall. *

's 1963 song "

When the Ship Comes In "When the Ship Comes In" is a folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, '' The Times They Are a-Changin, in 1964. Background and composition Joan Baez states in the documentary film ''No Direction Home'' that the song was ins ...

" contains the phrase, "the chains of the sea", which matches the last line of Thomas's ''

Fern Hill "Fern Hill" (1945) is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in ''Horizon'' magazine in October 1945, with its first book publication in 1946 as the last poem in '' Deaths and Entrances''. Thomas had started writing ''Fern Hill'' ...

'': "I sang in my chains like the sea". Dylan, born as Robert Zimmermann, is believed to have taken his last name from Thomas. *

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

's 1966 song, "

A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission) "A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Originally recorded for Simon's 1965 UK-only debut, ''The Paul Simon Songbook'', it was recorded soon after ...

", includes the lines, "He's so unhip, that when you say Dylan, he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas, Whoever he was." *The song "Dog's Eyes, Owl Meat & Man Chop" from the album ''Domino Club'' (1990) by

The Men They Couldn't Hang The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush (vocals, guitar), Paul Simmonds (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards), Philip "Swill" Odgers (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, melodic ...

refers to Dylan Thomas and the area of Wales where he lived. *Pittsburgh area band

The Gathering Field The Gathering Field are an United States, American rock quartet from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who recorded five albums from 1994 until 2001. They went on hiatus in 2002 and reunited in 2013. History Formation The Gathering Field legacy bega ...

referred to him in a song called "Dylan Thomas Days" on their 1994 self-titled album. *The cover of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967), designed by English pop artist Peter Blake, includes a photograph of Thomas. *In

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

' 2002 song "There She Goes, My Beautiful World", Cave sings "Dylan Thomas/he died drunk/in St. Vincent's Hospital". *In the children's animated television series ''

Ivor the Engine ''Ivor the Engine'' is a British cutout animation television series created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of Wales" a ...

'' the story lines drew heavily on, and were influenced by, the works of Thomas. *The 2018 album by

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

titled Resistance is Futile features a track about the marriage of Dylan & Caitlin Thomas, written from a first person perspective, titled "Dylan & Caitlin". *The 2019 eponymous album by

Better Oblivion Community Center Better Oblivion Community Center is an American indie rock superduo consisting of musicians Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. They released their self-titled debut album on January 24, 2019, through Dead Oceans. Background Oberst and Bridgers ...

features a song named "Dylan Thomas" and incorrectly references his death as from a "seizure on a barroom floor."

References

{{Dylan Thomas Dylan Thomas