1. Arthur Miller

2. BEST KNOWN FOR…
Arthur Miller was an American playwright whose criticism of societal problems defined his genius. His best known play is Death of a Salesman.

3. EARLY LIFE
Born in Harlem, New York on October 17, His family was very wealthy, until they lost almost everything in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
At that point they moved from the Upper East Side in Manhattan to Gravesend, Brooklyn.
Miller saved enough money to attend the University of Michigan. While in college, he wrote for the student paper and completed his first play, No Villain.

4. PLAYWRITING CAREER
Things started out a bit rocky: His 1940 play, The Man Who Had All the Luck, garnered precisely the antithesis of its title, closing after just four performances with bad reviews.
Six years later, however, All My Sons achieved success on Broadway, and earned him his first Tony Award (best author).
Working in the small studio that he built in Roxbury, Connecticut, Miller wrote the first act of Death of Salesman in less than a day. It opened on February 10, 1949 at the Morosco Theatre, and was adored by nearly everyone. Salesman won him the triple crown of theatrical artistry: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and a Tony.

5. Societal Issues…
We also know Miller's work because of his other two famous plays: The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. It was clear to many people that The Crucible's subtext was about contemporary witch hunts orchestrated by Senator Joseph McCarthy ( ) in the early 1950s. McCarthy conducted Senate hearings that were supposed to flush out suspected communists from government and other areas of American life, including the Arts. This became known as McCarthyism.

6. Standing Ground…
In the anti-communist hysteria that possessed the nation, many writers, artists, and performers came under close, often unfair, scrutiny for their political views and allegiances. Some were blacklisted--prevented from working in commercial theaters and movie companies--some were imprisoned for not testifying at others' trials, and some had reputations and careers destroyed.
Arthur Miller was fearless in facing down McCarthy's committee. He was convicted of contempt of court for not testifying against his friends. For a time he too was blacklisted, but the conviction was soon reversed, for he was not imprisoned for his resistance to the committee. Given his personal political stance during this dangerous time, it is not a surprise to find that his themes usually center on matters of social concern.

7. MARRIAGE & FAMILY
In 1956, Miller left his first wife, Mary Slattery. Shortly thereafter, he married famed actress Marilyn Monroe. In 1961, Monroe starred in The Misfits, a film for which Miller supplied the screenplay. Around the same time, Monroe and Miller divorced.
Within several months, 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 completely excluded from the family's personal life. Miller's son-in-law, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, visited his wife's brother frequently, and eventually persuaded Miller to reunite with his adult son.

8. FINAL YEARS
In his final years, Miller's work continued to struggle with the weightiest of societal and personal matters. His last play of note was The Price (1968), a piece about family dynamics. In 2002, Miller's third wife, Inges, died. The famed playwright promptly took a fourth wife, 34-year-old minimalist painter Agnes Barley. The two planned to marry, but on February 10, 2005 (the 56th anniversary of Death of a Salesman's Broadway debut), Arthur Miller, died of heart failure. He was 89 years old.