Arthur Miller

Who Was Arthur Miller?

Arthur Miller, an acclaimed American playwright, is best known for his profound impact on the world of theater, particularly with his iconic works Death of a Salesman (1949) and The Crucible (1953). After attending the University of Michigan, he moved back East to focus on writing dramas for the stage. His career reached a pinnacle with Death of a Salesman, which won both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and multiple Tony Awards, establishing him as one of the most influential playwrights of his time. Miller’s The Crucible, written during the McCarthy era, garnered critical acclaim and reflected his steadfast refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Throughout his life, Miller’s personal and public identity was intertwined with his tumultuous marriage to Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 89, leaving behind a rich legacy of works that continue to be revived on stage and adapted for film.

Early Life and Education

Born on October 17, 1915, in Harlem, New York, Arthur Miller was the son of Isidore, a successful coat manufacturer, and Augusta, a schoolteacher with a passion for literature. The Miller family, once prosperous, suffered significant financial hardship during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, prompting a move from their affluent Manhattan neighborhood to Flatbush, Brooklyn. Miller attended high school before working various odd jobs to save money for college. He enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he wrote for the student newspaper and completed his first play, No Villain, which won the university’s prestigious Avery Hopwood Award. During his time at Michigan, Miller studied under playwright and professor Kenneth Rowe, whose influence inspired him to pursue a career in theater upon his return to the East Coast.

Early Career & ‘Death of a Salesman’

Arthur Miller’s early career was marked by both setbacks and eventual triumphs. His Broadway debut in 1944, The Man Who Had All the Luck, was a critical failure, closing after only four performances. In 1945, his novel Focus, which explored themes of anti-Semitism, was published, but it was his 1947 play All My Sons that marked his first major success. The play ran for nearly a year on Broadway and earned Miller his first Tony Award for Best Author.

In the years that followed, Miller found a secluded space in Roxbury, Connecticut, where he worked on his masterpiece, Death of a Salesman. In a remarkable feat of productivity, he wrote the first act in less than a day. Directed by Elia Kazan, Death of a Salesman premiered on February 10, 1949, at the Morosco Theatre, receiving overwhelming praise and cementing Miller’s place in the American theatrical canon.

The play tells the poignant story of Willy Loman, an aging salesman whose career is in decline and whose relentless pursuit of unattainable values leads to his downfall. In his review, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson described Willy as a man “in his early sixties” whose knowledge of his business is intact, but whose vitality and optimism have faded. “He is through,” Atkinson wrote, capturing the tragic arc of Loman’s life. Death of a Salesman won multiple prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Tony for Best Play, sweeping all six Tony categories in which it was nominated, including Best Direction and Best Author.

Marriage to Marilyn Monroe

In 1956, after divorcing his first wife, Mary Slattery, Miller married the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe. The two had met in 1951, when Monroe was dating Kazan, who had directed Miller’s earlier plays. Their friendship developed over time, eventually blossoming into romance. Their marriage attracted immense media attention, with Miller famously stating that Monroe would scale back her career to focus on being his wife.

Author Norman Mailer famously described their union as the merging of “the Great American Brain” (Miller) with “the Great American Body” (Monroe), highlighting the contrast between the playwright’s intellectual pursuits and the actress’s status as a global sex symbol. Their marriage placed Miller at the center of the Hollywood spotlight, though it would ultimately face challenges, with both personal and public tensions affecting their relationship.

‘The Crucible’ & McCarthyism

In 1956, during the height of McCarthyism, Miller’s political beliefs brought him into direct conflict with the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The committee revoked his passport and subpoenaed him to testify about alleged communist sympathies. Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible, an allegory about the Salem witch trials, had been interpreted as a commentary on the hysteria surrounding McCarthyism, making him a target of the committee.

Miller refused to cooperate with HUAC’s demands to name individuals who had been involved with communist activities, a decision that led to his citation for contempt of Congress. In a 1957 article, New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson commended Miller for his moral stand, stating that Miller “refused to turn his private conscience over to administration by the state.” The contempt ruling against Miller was overturned two years later, but the incident left an indelible mark on his career and further solidified his reputation as a writer who was unafraid to challenge authority.

Divorce and Marilyn Monroe’s Death

Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe were married for five years, a period marked by the actress’s personal struggles, including drug addiction. During this time, Miller wrote little, except for the screenplay of The Misfits (1961), which he crafted as a gift for Monroe. Directed by John Huston, the film starred Monroe alongside Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Around the same time of the film’s release, Monroe and Miller divorced.

Monroe’s death in 1962 was followed by the controversial debut of Miller’s 1964 drama After the Fall, which many believed was partially inspired by their tumultuous relationship. Miller faced criticism for allegedly capitalizing on his marriage to Monroe, but he defended the play, asserting that it was a work of fiction, designed to explore the nature of human insight, self-destructiveness, and violence.

In 1962, Miller remarried, this time to Austrian-born photographer Inge Morath. The couple had two children, Rebecca and Daniel. Their son Daniel, born with Down syndrome, was institutionalized, and Miller insisted that he be excluded from the family’s personal life. Although Morath attempted to bring Daniel home as a toddler, she was unsuccessful. It was only years later, through actor Daniel Day-Lewis, who had married Miller’s daughter Rebecca, that Miller reconnected with his adult son. Daniel, who had built a happy life with outside support, remained largely unknown to the public until after Miller’s death.

Other Works

Miller’s prolific career included numerous plays such as A View From the Bridge (1955), Incident at Vichy (1964), The Price (1968), The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), The American Clock (1980), and Broken Glass (1994). In these later works, Miller continued to delve into societal and personal issues, examining the American psyche, though these later productions did not achieve the same level of critical or commercial success as his earlier works.

Miller also ventured into film and television. He wrote the screenplay and adapted Playing for Time (1980), based on the autobiography of Fania Fénelon, a member of an all-female orchestra imprisoned at Auschwitz during the Holocaust. The project stirred controversy due to the casting of Vanessa Redgrave, a noted critic of Zionism, which attracted backlash from Jewish organizations and Fénelon herself. Additionally, Miller collaborated with Morath on several books, including In the Country (1977) and ‘Salesman’ in Beijing (1984). In 1987, he published his autobiography Timebends: A Life, in which he reflected on his youthful belief that writing a worthy play was one of the most significant achievements a person could accomplish.

Miller’s plays have since become American classics, with Death of a Salesman seeing numerous adaptations, including a 1985 TV version starring Dustin Hoffman. In 1996, a film adaptation of The Crucible, written by Miller, was released, starring Winona Ryder, Joan Allen, and Daniel Day-Lewis. The film earned Miller his sole Academy Award nomination for screenwriting.

Death of a Playwright

In 2002, Miller’s third wife, Inge Morath, passed away. Shortly thereafter, Miller became engaged to 34-year-old minimalist painter Agnes Barley, but his health began to deteriorate before they could marry. On February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of Death of a Salesman’s Broadway debut, Miller passed away from heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, surrounded by Barley, family, and friends. He was 89 years old.

In March 2018, HBO released Arthur Miller: Writer, a documentary directed and narrated by his daughter, Rebecca. The film offered a comprehensive look at Miller’s life, from his iconic plays to his marriages, and provided insight into his complex relationships with family members.