Arthur Miller October 17, 1915-February 10, 2005

Early Life Arthur Asher Miller was born October 17th 1915 in New York City. Miller’s family was Jewish. He went to public school. Miller played for his high school football team, worked as a delivery boy for a local bakery before school, and worked for his father’s business over summer vacation.

College After graduating from high school, Miller attended City College, but he quit after two weeks. He worked as a clerk in an auto-parts warehouse. He was the only Jewish employee and he experienced anti-Semitism for the first time. He entered the University of Michigan to study journalism (he eventually switched to an English major). He worked for the student paper. While in college he wrote plays, most of which were very well received, and some of which won awards. He graduated with a B.A. in English.

Young Adulthood After college Miller wrote radio plays and scripts. He was offered a job as a scriptwriter for Twentieth Century Fox in Hollywood, but he turned it down. He continued to write plays for both the stage and radio through the late 1930s and early 1940s. He married Mary Grace Slattery in 1940. He and his wife had a daughter, Jane, in 1944.

Major Works In 1947 his play All My Sons premiered and received critical praise. It won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and the Donaldson Award. In 1949 his play Death of a Salesman premiered and received the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award and several other awards. In 1953 his play The Crucible premiered and it received awards, but it was less warmly received than some of other major works.

Politics Miller was left-leaning politically. He came into popularity during the Cold War, when much of the country was immersed in paranoia regarding the Soviet Union and Communism. Miller’s political views led to conflicts with the US government. The FBI kept a file on Miller, and he was eventually called before The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). They tried to pressure Miller into naming the names of associates of his that were connected to the Communist party. He refused and was convicted of contempt of Congress in 1957 (this was overturned the following year).

Adulthood and Legacy In 1956 he divorced Mary Slattery and later married Marilyn Monroe. He wrote the script for a film called The Misfits, which starred Monroe. He divorced Monroe in 1961. She died a year later. In 1962 he married Inge Morath. In 1963, his daughter, Rebecca, was born. Miller continued to write plays and scripts as well as work on various productions of his work until his death in 2005. Miller is considered one of America’s greatest playwrights.

The Crucible The play is set in 1692 Salem Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. Miller researched the trials extensively, and he uses many of the actual historical figures and events in his play, but the play is not entirely historically correct. The play is an allegory. Miller saw a strong connection between what the Puritan government was doing in 1692 to what his own government was doing during the Cold War. In essence, the play is vehicle for Miller to accuse his own government of conducting their own witch hunt. History has shown that Miller was correct. The actions of our government during the Cold War with the House Un-American Activities Committee and the McCarthy Trials are seen as a dark period in American history.