-
Born
Arthur Miller was born in Harlem NY on Oct 17 in 1915 to his immigrant family of Polish and Jewish decent. His mother being an educator and his father owned a coat manufacturing business.
https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/arthur-miller -
Financial struggles
During the Wall Street Crash, Millers family lost everything and was struggling to stay afloat financially. Miller worked multiple jobs to even consider attending university. -
While writing in college
In college one of his first ever productions was called "No villan" for what he won the schools Hopwood Avery Award. He also took courses and classes with Playwright Kenneth Rowe. Inspired by Rowe he wanted to pursue his career as a playwright -
University
Miller attended the University of Michigan, while in college he began taking writing more serious; creating some of his more serious productions later in college. -
Early career
Millers career started off rocky, He debuted "The man who had all the luck" and closed after four woeful shows and had published a book about "anti-Semitism" a year later -
Millers success
Millers first successful play "all my sons" was a success running for almost a whole year on Broadway and eventually led to his first Tony Award for Best Author -
Living situation
Working out of a small studio that he built up in Connecticut and later went on to write "The death of a salesman" -
The Death of a Salesman
The play opened and was a big success being adored by everyone and becoming an iconic production. The play has went on to influence and inspire many future play wrights -
Awards
The success of "The Death of a sales man" went on to win him various awards. Salesman won Miller the highest accolades in the theater world: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Tony for Best Play. (The work, in fact, swept all of the six Tony categories in which it was nominated, including for Best Direction and Best Author.) -
Marilyn Monroe
Shortly after divorcing his previous wife, Mary Slattery, his former college sweetheart with whom he had two children Less than a month later, Miller married Marilyn Monroe, whom he'd first met in 1951 at a Hollywood party. Monroe was formerly dating the director for Millers "death of a Salesman" -
Marilyn Monroe
Miller and Monroe's romance first began as a deep friendship that then later sparked into romance. their marriage was often referred to as the union of "the Great American Brain" and "the Great American Body."
Miller and Monroe's high-profile marriage placed the playwright in the Hollywood spotlight. At the time of their marriage, he told the press that Monroe would curtail her movie career for the "full-time job" of being his wife. -
HUAC
In 1956, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) refused to renew Miller's passport, and called him to appear before the committee. His 1953 play, the Tony Award-winning The Crucible, a dramatization of the Salem witch trials of 1692 and an allegory about McCarthyism, was believed to be one of the reasons why Miller came under the committee's scrutiny. Miller refused to comply with the committee's demands to "out" people who had been active. -
Divorce
Monroe and Miller were only married for five years when the couple divorced to Marilyn's heavy substance abuse.Miller barely wrote during their marriage, except for penning the screenplay of The Misfits as a gift for Monroe. The 1961 film, directed by John Huston, starred Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Around the same time as The Misfits release, Monroe and Miller divorced. -
2nd marriage
Miller married Austrian-born photographer Inge Morath. The couple had two children, Rebecca and Daniel. Miller insisted that their son, Daniel, who was born with Down syndrome, be excluded from the family's personal life. The infant was institutionalized, and Morath reportedly tried to bring him home as a toddler but later did no. -
Criticism
Monroe died the next year , and Miller's controversial 1964 drama "After the Fall" was said to have been partially inspired by their relationship. Miller was criticized for capitalizing on his marriage to Monroe so soon after her death, although the playwright denied this. Miller responded by saying: ''The play is a work of fiction. the characters are created in a way to inspire this, which in this case concerns the nature of human insight, of self-destructiveness and violence toward others.'' -
Other productions
Miller's other plays include 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 his later career, Miller continued to explore societal and personal issues that probed the American psyche, though critical and commercial responses to the work didn't garner the acclaim of his earlier productions. -
Miller's other works
Miller began writing for television and other small film productions.In addition to his plays, Miller collaborated with Morath on books including In the Country (1977) and 'Salesman' in Beijing (1984). In 1987, Miller published his autobiography Timebends: A Life. -
Death
Arthur Miller passes away on Febuary 10 2005, at the age of 89 years old in Roxbury CT -
Quote
“I may think of you softly from time to time. But I’ll cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again.”
― Arthur Miller, The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts
This quote resonates with me because of how sometimes you can let go of people in your life but still be glad that they were in your life for a period of time. -