Historic Figures
WITH THE NAME THOMAS
One of the best known poets of the twentieth century, Dylan Thomas hailed from a seaside port in Wales. He started publishing poetry at the age of 20 and instantly received critical acclaim. As his popularity grew in Britain, he was invited to the United States for a series of readings. Thomas became legendary in the United States, and gained a large following. Nevertheless, his last years were shadowed by an increasingly tragic view of his own darkly tempestuous life. After a particularly long alcohol binge, Thomas died in New York in 1953. He was only 39 years old. Although his life was short, Thomas made a deep impression and his poems are immortal. The last two lines of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night†(written not long before his own death) read: "Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
One of the best known poets of the twentieth century, Dylan Thomas hailed from a seaside port in Wales. He started publishing poetry at the age of 20 and instantly received critical acclaim. As his popularity grew in Britain, he was invited to the United States for a series of readings. Thomas became legendary in the United States, and gained a large following. Nevertheless, his last years were shadowed by an increasingly tragic view of his own darkly tempestuous life. After a particularly long alcohol binge, Thomas died in New York in 1953. He was only 39 years old. Although his life was short, Thomas made a deep impression and his poems are immortal. The last two lines of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night†(written not long before his own death) read: "Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Olive Thomas was a beautiful young movie actress during the silent era of filmmaking and well-known for her early death. Born in Pennsylvania to an Irish family of modest means, Olive moved to New York City when she was 18. It was shortly thereafter that the young girl won a contest called “The Most Beautiful Girl in New York City†which landed her a cover on the Saturday Evening Post and a position with the Ziegfeld Follies. She performed a risqué act in the “Midnight Frolic†show which made her uber-popular with the wealthy males in the audience. She was known for her remarkable beauty, porcelain skin and bright violet eyes framed in long dark eyelashes. The men went crazy for her and lavished her with gifts. Eventually Olive made her way into films and met and married actor Jack Pickford (brother of Mary Pickford). The two young lovers eloped and led a volatile and wild life in the fast lane of partying. In 1920, at the age of 25, Olive Thomas, mistaking the bottle for something else, accidentally swallowed poison in a French hotel room while on a second honeymoon with her husband. She tragically died a few days later and her body was brought back to New York for a jam packed funeral ceremony. She became a poster child of her day for the fast-living consequences of successful youth. It is said her ghost still roams the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.
One of the best known poets of the twentieth century, Dylan Thomas hailed from a seaside port in Wales. He started publishing poetry at the age of 20 and instantly received critical acclaim. As his popularity grew in Britain, he was invited to the United States for a series of readings. Thomas became legendary in the United States, and gained a large following. Nevertheless, his last years were shadowed by an increasingly tragic view of his own darkly tempestuous life. After a particularly long alcohol binge, Thomas died in New York in 1953. He was only 39 years old. Although his life was short, Thomas made a deep impression and his poems are immortal. The last two lines of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem “Do not go gentle into that good night†(written not long before his own death) read: "Do not go gentle into that good night / Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
