Life and Works of Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915 in Harlem, New York. He was raised in a wealthy household until his family unfortunately lost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. They ended up having to fire their chauffer and moved from the Upper East Side in Manhattan to Gravesend, Brooklyn. After graduating from high school he worked several jobs to raise enough money to be able to attend college. Once he finally raised enough money he attended college at the University of Michigan. While Miller was in college he was a writer for the student paper and completed his first play, No Villain. He also took class with a well known playwright, Professor Kenneth Rowe. Rowe taught all his students how to construct a play in order to get what they want. Inspired by Rowe, Miller moved back east to begin his career as a playwright.

Miller’s career started out a little rocky. His 1940 play, The Man Who Had All the Luck closed after just four performances and a stack of bad reviews. Six years later, All My Sons achieved great success on Broadway. This particular play earned him his first Tony Award. In 1956, Miller left his first wife Mary Slattery and shortly after married Marilyn Monroe. Later that year, The House of Un-American Activities Committee refused to renew his passport. He was called to present himself in front of the committee. His play, The Crucible was the main reason for their strong summons. In 1961, Marilyn Monroe starred in The Misfits, a film for which Miller wrote the screenplay. Monroe and Miller divorced around the same time. Within just a couple of months, Miller married Inge Morath, an Australian-born photographer. Miller and Inge had two children by the names of Rebecca and Daniel. Miller insisted that his son Daniel, who was born with Down syndrome, be completely set apart from the family and their personal life. Miller’s son-in-law, Daniel Day-Lewis, visited his wife’s brother frequently, and eventually persuaded Miller to reunite with his son.

After writing four plays and a screenplay Miller was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama, the Prince of Austria’s award, and the Jerusalem prize. Arthur Miller, American playwright, essayist and prominent figure in the twentieth-century American theatre, died on February 10, 2005 in Roxbury, Connecticut.