Dylan Thomas; 'From Grave to Cradle' - Arena BBC FOUR

 America killed Dylan

(Thomas that is . . . .)

DYLAN THOMAS - From Grave to Cradle - 

Arena BBC 4

From the story commonly accepted that Dylan met his end after downing 18 straight whiskies (doubles not the British single measure) is not only apocryphal it is pure invention and just plainly not true. It seems it is more like one amongst the three 'companions' who accompanied Thomas at his end (secretary and bed partner), Liz Reitell, author of the scandalised version John Brinnin and Dr Morton Feltenstein who variously prescribed Thomas phenobarbitone (1/2 a grain!) two days before and on the day of Dylan's death injected him with a cocktail of Morphine (again 1/2 a grain 32.4 milligrams!) and Cortisone this a doctor with an eccentric attitude regarding amounts and Thomas later then slipped into a coma from which he was never to recover. 

Caitlin arrived to find Dylan having been given a tracheotomy and flew into a rage at Brinnin who she appears to have blamed and later it was discovered Thomas had been suffering for some weeks the affects of bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as his long standing emphysema which had long troubled him and none of which should have been treated with opiates, or hydrocortisone 

I call that murder, no?

- Superb myth blowing profile of Dylan Thomas at the time of the anniversary of 50 years after his death Grave to Cradle by
Arena Author and broadcaster Nigel Williams examines the work and the legend of one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, Dylan Thomas.

Born in 1914, Dylan Thomas was an unruly and undisciplined child who was interested only in English at school and was determined from childhood to become a poet. Little did he know that he would eventually become world-renowned.
Cited by Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Van Morrison and other cultural icons as a profound influence, Thomas occupies the space more readily associated with the likes of James Dean and Jack Kerouac, both of whom he preceded. 
But it was his death that truly made him a legend. Did Dylan Thomas really die after drinking 18 straight whiskies at The White Horse in New York? Was he a genius or a sponging, womanising drunk? The film unravels the myth by tracing the poet's biography backwards, from his much written about, much lied about death to the heart of the Dylan Thomas story and his beginnings in a quiet street in suburban Swansea. (2003)