Millers Early Life

rthur Asher Miller was born in

New York City on October 17,
1915. He was the second child of
Isadore and Gittel Miller. Gittel, or Gussie,
as she was also known, was a first generation
American, and Isadore came from Eastern
Europe (birth country unknown). Both
were Jewish, though not as religious as the
other members in their respective families.
Arthurs father ran Miltex Coat and Suit
Company, which mainly manufactured
and sold womens clothing. Because of the
businesss success, the Miller family lived a
comfortable middle class life. Their home,
a huge apartment located at 45 West 110th
Street near Central Park, contained many
expensive items, including a grand piano and
oriental rugs. Isadore even rode a limousine
to and from work. Miller had two siblings,
a younger sister named Joan and an older
brother named Kermit, who was Arthurs
role model growing up. While Kermit took
school seriously and was a good student,
Arthur was the exact opposite. Even at a
young age, he had no interest in writing.
Instead, he preferred to play football or
ride his bicycle. Kermit was accepted into
New York University, but due to the Stock
Market Crash of 1929, he had to drop
out and help his fathers failing business.
Miller had always felt badly for having left
[Kermit] to prop up the family, while I, the
inferior student, went off to college. The
theme of a son who sacrifices his potential

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for his family can be found in many of his

plays, including The Price (1968).

he Stock Market Crash of 1929

crippled the Miller family. Isadore
had invested most of his money
in the stock market, and the family
quickly became bankrupt. Isadores oncesuccessful business now failed, and as a
result, the family could not afford their
comfortable Central Park home. The
Millers moved to 1350 East Third Street
in Brooklyn. The family was surrounded
by many relatives who had suffered a
similar fate. By 1931, at the age of 16,
Arthur worked at his fathers failing
business with Kermit. He also delivered
bagels and worked at automobile supply
stores to make extra cash. Millers
experiences during this time would always
haunt him, and the Great Depression
would be an important theme in his later
work. His sister, Joan, said that Arthur
carries scars from that time. It doesnt
take a great observer to notice that. It is a
memory, in his nerves, and in his muscles,
that he just cant get rid of it. During
his senior year at Abraham Lincoln High
School, Arthur began seriously thinking
about attending college. It was not because
he wanted to get an education. Miller
thought of it more as a way to escape the
poverty which his family, relatives, and
neighbors were experiencing.

College Bound

o how did Arthur Miller, the young man who

cared so very little about his education, end up
at the University of Michigan? Before enrolling,
Miller had entertained the idea of going to Stanford,
but soon realized he would never get in due to his poor
grades. After Miller graduated from high school in 1933,
he began attending night classes at the City College of
New York. Interestingly enough, he was only taking
History and Chemistry classes, which seemed to show
his disinterest in writing. Unfortunately, his stint there
only lasted two weeks because he could not handle both
work and school. After dropping out, Miller started
looking at the University of Michigan again. The
colleges tuition was sixty-five dollars, a fee he knew he
could afford. However, he had already applied there
twice and was rejected both times because he could only
get three of the four required reference letters signed by
his high school teachers (not to mention his bad grades).
Determined to get out of his poor neighborhood, Miller
tried again. He wrote a letter to the Dean of the University
and pleaded for his admission. His letter must have
been quite persuasive because the Dean of Admissions
accepted him. By September of 1934, he had enrolled at
the University of Michigan. Miller would later say, I
still cant believe Michigan let me in.

Arthur Miller was a student at

University of Michigan from 1934 to 1938.
UM Alumni Association Records, box 144, Bentley
Historical Library, University of Michigan

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Miller & the University of

Michigan

iller fell in love with writing at the University

of Michigan. Unlike his previous high school
days, he actually enjoyed the classes he was
taking. It was also at this time that Miller began his interest
in politics. Miller became attracted to Communism after
his familys experiences during the Great Depression and
grew more sympathetic to the workers of America. Miller
said of Communism that To be red was to embrace hope,
the hope that lies in action. Miller became a reporter
for the Michigan Daily, the Universitys newspaper. At
one point in time, the Michigan Daily was a conservative
newspaper, but Miller and other like-minded students
pushed it into a more liberal direction. Through the
schools newspaper, Miller was able to write about the
specific political concerns he cared for. He commented
on not only Communism, but on such important topics
as unions and labor strikes, themes that would pop up in
Millers future plays. In his 2005 obituary published in
the New York Times, Marilyn Berger wrote that Millers
plays exposed the flaws in the fabric of the American
dream, and these early political interests helped shape
his later work.
Page 254 of the Michiganesian,
the University of Michigans yearbook. Arthur Millers name
is included underneath the Reporters box.
Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

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Miller the Playwright

hile Arthur Miller liked journalism, he soon

realized his life goal was to be a playwright.
Miller began taking drama classes with
Kenneth Rowe, who increased his interest in writing
plays. Miller said of his former professor, While Im
sure he wanted to teach me a lot, he taught me really only
one thing, and that was that I could hold the stage with
dialogue. He acquainted me with the history of the theater
and with the development of various forms, and it was
a quick way of getting educated. Rowe turned Miller
toward Greek tragedies and the works of Henrik Ibsen,
both of which would influence his subsequent plays.
During spring break of 1936, Miller wrote his first play,
No Villain. The play, which focuses on a workers strike
at a coat factory, only took him six days to write. Miller
submitted his work to the Hopwood Awards Committee,
a writing contest created by the University of Michigan.
He won the grand prize of 250 dollars. He later rewrote
the play as They Too Arise and submitted it to the Theater
Guilds Bureau of New Plays contest, from which he won
1,250 dollars. In 1937, he won another Hopwood Award
for Honors at Dawn, another political play.

Title page of Millers first play, No Villain, 1936.

Arthur Miller Papers, Special Collections Library,
University of Michigan

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Miller and the Real World

iller graduated from the University of Michigan in 1938 with a B.A.

in Language and Literature. Soon after, he moved back to Brooklyn
where he worked through the Federal Theater Project writing radio
plays. In 1940, he married Mary Grace Slattery, whom he met while attending
college. Miller made very little money writing, so Mary became the primary
breadwinner, working as a waitress and an editor. The couple would go on to have
a daughter named Jane and a son named Richard. At the time, Miller held various
side jobs, including working at a Brooklyn Navy Yard. However, he never stopped
writing, even though he did not find much success. In 1943, he began writing the
screenplay for The Story of G.I. Joe, though he would not be credited for his work.
In 1944, he published a nonfiction book about soldiers called Situation Normal... He
dedicated this to Kermit, who at the time was serving in War World II. Miller also
wrote a novel called Focus, which tackled the issue of anti-Semitism. While the it
was a small success, Millers true passion was in his work as a playwright. He was
already working on several plays that hed hoped to see into production, including
The Grass Still Grows, The Golden Years, and The Half-Bridge. Unfortunately, all three
never made it to the stage. Miller knew his happiness came from writing plays, but
he expressed doubts for his own success. He told Professor Kenneth Rowe, I fear
I will never be able to write for the theater.

A 1945 issue of Theatre Arts, which included an excerpt from

Arthur Millers screenplay for The Story of G.I. Joe.
MSS 484, Richard Hoffman- Arthur Miller Collection, Special Collections,
University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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All My Sons

t took Miller until 1944 to get any of his plays produced.

His first play to hit the stage was The Man Who Had All
the Luck. It was financially and critically unsuccessful
and closed after only four performances. The failure of the
play affected Miller deeply, and the playwright claimed
that he would stop writing plays altogether. Fortunately,
he changed his mind. Millers mother-in-law told him
the true story of a man who had purposely sold defective
airplane parts during War World II. This story influenced
Miller to write All My Sons, which became the playwrights
first successful play. Originally called The Sign of the Archer,
Miller wanted his play to be as realistic as possible, hoping
that people would mistake my play for life itself. The
play opened on Broadway on January 29, 1947 at the
Coronet Theatre in New York City. At first, the critical
response was mixed. However, Brooks Atkinsons rave
review influenced other critics to re-evaluate it. Atkinson
wrote in the New York Times that The theater has acquired
a genuine new talent. It is an honest, forceful drama, an
original play of superior quality by a playwright who
knows his craft. More positive reviews followed, and All
My Sons would eventually win the 1947 New York Drama
Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Finally, Miller had
obtained the level of success he had dreamed about.

Playbill for All My Sons, Coronet Theatre, 1947

MSS 484, Richard Hoffman- Arthur Miller Collection,
Special Collections,
University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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Death of a Salesman

iller followed All My Sons with Death of a

Salesman, arguably the playwrights best
work. Based on several salesmen Miller
knew while growing up, the playwright wanted this play
to be expressionistic, meaning he wanted the audience
to see what was going on inside Willy Lomans head.
With its complex use of flashbacks and a commanding
performance from Lee Cobb Jr., Death of a Salesman was
hailed as a masterpiece when it was first performed on
February 10, 1949 at Morosco Theatre in New York.
John Chapman of the Daily News wrote that the play was
one of those unforgettable times in which all is right and
nothing is wrong. Ward Morehouse of the New York Sun
said it was The most powerful and most exciting play
that the season has revealed to date. Critics were not
the only ones who praised it. The tale of Willy Loman,
the hapless salesman who finds that his American Dream
has turned into a nightmare, deeply affected audiences
as well. Each performance of its initial run either left
the audience speechless or in tears once it was over. The
play won many awards, including a Tony Award and the
Pulitzer Prize in 1949. Death of a Salesman was such an
important play that Arthur Millers biographer, Martin
Gottfried, said that If Miller had written just that play
and no other, he would have left his mark.

Picture of Lee Cobb Jr. and Mildred Dunnock, taken

from a 1949 production of Death of a Salesman.
MSS 484, Richard Hoffman- Arthur Miller Collection, Special
Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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9

Miller and Elia Kazan

oth All My Sons and Death of a Salesman were

directed by Elia Kazan. Miller was impressed with
Kazans ability to understand the psychology of his
characters. The two men also shared similar leftist beliefs,
and because of this, they became good friends. However,
their friendship would soon become strained. Kazan
had joined the Communist Party in the early 1930s after
becoming a member of the Group Theatre. The Group
Theatre included other actors who were members of the
party. Eventually, Kazan would quit both organizations,
but his past would come back to haunt him when the House
Committee on Un-American Activities started questioning
suspected Communists in Hollywood. Because of Kazans
ties to the movie business (he had directed many successful
films by this point), HUAC requested that the director
give them information on any Communists he may have
worked with. At first, he refused to give them names, but
on April 10, 1952, in front of a subcommittee of HUAC,
Kazan named members of the Group Theatre who were
Communists. While Kazan made no mention of Miller, the
playwright was appalled by his friends behavior, saying
that A man doesnt have to be an informer in order to
practice in the United States. Kazans actions led to a
brief falling out between the two.

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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Miller and Marilyn Monroe

n 1951, Miller and Kazan visited Twentieth-Century

Fox in Hollywood. The two were there to try to sell
The Hook, a screenplay they had been working on (and
because of their falling out, would never be produced).
This was where Miller first met actress Marilyn Monroe.
Miller said that when he first met Monroe, he simply fell
in love. Monroe always wanted a father figure in her life,
and she found that quality in Miller. Both shared a love
for poetry, and Miller would recommend literature for her
to read. When she acquired a copy of Death of a Salesman,
she even had the playwright sign it for her. Because they
lived on separate coasts, the two would write letters to
each other. Through this correspondence, Miller would
tell Monroe about his unhappy marriage to Mary. He had
tried to make it work with his wife because, deep down,
he still loved her. However, he was unable to ignore the
feelings he had for the actress. In 1954, Monroe officially
ended her marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio.
After her divorce, Miller and Monroes relationship grew
more intense, as well as more public. The media could not
get enough of the couple because they seemed so different
from each other. On his fortieth birthday, Mary kicked
Miller out of the house after finding about his affair. They
divorced in February of 1956, and Arthur was now free to
see Marilyn whenever he liked.
Miller and Marilyn Monroe eating together. 1960.
Eve Arnold/Magnum Photos

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The Crucible

n The Crucible, Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials as an

analogy to criticize the Communist scare of the 1950s,
with his main targets being Senator Joseph McCarthy
and the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Miller said, Gradually, over weeks, a living connection
between myself and Salem, and between Salem and
Washington, was made in my mind-for whatever else they
might be, I saw that the House of Un-American Activities
Committee hearings in Washington were profoundly and
even avowedly ritualistic. A few critics believe that the
play is also an apology of sorts to his first wife, Mary.
Miller felt guilty about cheating on her, and in this regard,
he was very much like his main character, John Proctor,
has similar feelings after he cheats on his wife, Elizabeth.
Miller always conducted research before writing his plays,
and The Crucible was no different. Miller went to Salem and
looked at documents, letters, and other archival material on
the Salem Witch Trials. He even based a lot of his dialogue
on the transcripts of the actual court cases. The play opened
on January 22, 1953, on Broadway at the Martin Beck
Theatre and starred Maureen Stapleton and E.G. Marshall.
While The Crucible received mixed reviews when it was first
released, it eventually won a Tony Award and a Donaldson
Award in 1953 and would go on to be one of Millers most
popular plays.

E.G. Marshall and Maureen Stapleton during a performance of

The Crucible at the Martin Beck Theatre, 1953.
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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Miller vs. the House Committee

on Un-American Activities

he American-Belgian Society
invited Arthur Miller to
the National Theatre of
Belgium in Brussels to witness the
premiere of their production of
The Crucible in 1954. Miller eagerly
accepted the invitation and applied
for a passport. However, the United
States Department of State rejected
his application, believing that he
supported Communism and that
Millers trip overseas would not
be in the national interest. The
denial of the playwrights passport
led him to a meeting with the
House Committee on Un-American
Activities. The fame Miller had
received from his relationship with
Marilyn Monroe made him an easy
target. His appointment was held
on June 21, 1956, at the House of
Representatives office building.
When asked by the congressmen in
attendance if he was a Communist
or knew anyone who was, Miller

responded vaguely or did not answer

the questions at all. He said, I could
not use the name of another person
and bring trouble on him. These
were writers, poets, as far as I could
see, and the life of a writer, despite
what it sometimes seems, is pretty
tough- I wouldnt make it tougher
for anybody. The playwright did
not understand how these questions
were relevant to obtain his passport,
but none of the congressmen seemed
to care. Even with little evidence, the
court still cited Miller for contempt
of Congress for refusing to answer
the questions. When Miller was
convicted on February 18, 1957,
people looked at his actions as a
heroic. In his book Naming Names
(1980), Victor Navasky wrote that
Miller was hailed as the risk-taking
conscience of the times. Luckily for
the playwright, his lawyer appealed
the courts decision, and the case
was eventually dismissed.

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Newspaper clippings of
Arthur Millers meetings
with the House Committee
on Un-American Activities.
Harry Ransom Center, The
University of Texas at Austin

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Frame Size 18 x 24

n the midst of his issues with the House Committee

on Un-American Activities, Arthur Miller married
Marilyn Monroe, not once, but twice. The couples
first wedding took place at Westchester County Court
House in White Plains, New York, on June 29, 1956.
Because of the couples popularity, the wedding turned
into a major media event. Reporters were everywhere,
and the ceremony even included a press conference.
One reporter was killed in a car crash after attempting
to get a picture of the couple. Monroe was shaken all
afternoon and thought of the reporters death as a bad
omen. The couples second wedding, which took place
on July 1 in Katonah, New York, was much quieter.
The couple had a Jewish ceremony. Monroe had just
converted to Judaism so she could be closer with
Arthur. The wedding was small, with only Millers

family and a few close friends in attendance. Miller

said that Being married to a girl like Marilyn is like
living in a fish bowl. While he did not like the lack of
privacy, he and Monroe eventually got used to it, and
for a while, their marriage was fine. Miller supported
his wifes acting career, and Monroe supported her
husband through his issues with HUAC. The couple
was planning on having a family together because
Monroe always wanted children. However, when
she finally did get pregnant, she had a miscarriage.
At the time, she had already been suffering from
suicidal thoughts as well as an increasing dependency
on drugs. Monroes miscarriage only deepened her
worsening mental state, and the couples relationship
grew strained.

Miller and Monroes Marriage

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe with Millers parents, Isadore and Gittel.
On their second wedding day, July 1, 1956. Photograph by Joseph Abeles.

Miller and Monroes Divorce

s a remedy to cure his failing marriage, Miller

wrote a screenplay for Monroe in 1960. The
script was called The Misfits, based on his short
story with a long title, The Misfits, or Chickenfeed: The
Last Frontier of the Quixotic Cowboys. The movie would
be directed by John Hudson, and along with Monroe,
starred Clark Gable (who would die soon after filming)
and Montgomery Clift. Monroe did not like her character
of Roslyn. She felt it was just as exploitive as her other
roles, though she accepted it anyway. The film was shot
in the deserts of Nevada, and Miller would come to the
set to support Monroe. Everyone working on the film
could see that their marriage was crumbling. Monroe
was already having an affair with actor Yves Montand,
and because of her drug use, her behavior on the set was
erratic. The playwright said, Marilyn was highly selfdestructive. All of my energy and attention were devoted
to trying to help her solve her problems. Unfortunately, I
didnt have much success. The couple divorced in 1961,
with Monroe saying, I think hes a better writer than a
husband. A year later, on August 5, 1962, Monroe died
of a drug overdose. When asked about her death, Miller
simply responded, Its your problem, not mine. Millers
marriage to Monroe would always be a touchy subject for
the playwright all of his life, and he would rarely mention
her in public.
Title page of The Misfits, signed by Miller. 1960.
MSS 484, Richard Hoffman- Arthur Miller Collection,
Special Collections,
University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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Miller and Inge Morath

nge Morath was born in Austria on May 27, 1923. Her

family moved to Germany where they lived under Nazi
rule and where Morath worked in an aircraft factory.
After the war, she got involved in photojournalism, and in
1955, she was hired by Magnum Photos. Her job at Magnum
provided her the opportunity to meet Miller. Morath was
sent to Nevada to take pictures of the filming of The Misfits
(1960). The two quickly became friends, and their friendship
eventually turned into a romance. The couple married on
February 17, 1962. Soon after, they had a son named Daniel,
who was born with Down syndrome. The couple had difficulty
raising him and made the decision to enroll him in Southbury
Training School, a Connecticut facility that took care of
children with mental disabilities. While Morath visited him
on a regular basis, it seems as if Miller did not. In his 1987
autobiography, Timebends: A Life, Miller does not even mention
Daniel. Millers sister, Joan, has said that Daniel was a very
difficult subject for Arthur.
In 1963, Arthur and Inge had a daughter named Rebecca,
who would later become an actress, starring in such movies
as Regarding Henry (1991), Consenting Adults (1992) and a TV
version of her fathers play, The American Clock (1993). She
also directed and wrote the films Angela (1995) and Personal
Velocity: Three Portraits (2002), among many others. Morath
and Miller worked on several books together, including
Salesman in Beijing, which details a Chinese production of
Death of a Salesman.
Millers marriage to Inge would last forty years. She died of
lymphatic cancer on January 30, 2002.
Inge Morath, Millers third wife. 1953.
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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After the Fall

rthur Miller had a hard time telling people how he

felt, which is why he loved writing plays. It was the
only way he could truly express himself. In 1964,
his most autobiographical play, After the Fall, was performed
for the first time at the Lincoln Center for the Performing
Arts. Like Death of a Salesman, the play goes back and forth
through flashbacks and real time. It makes many references
to events in his life, including his meeting with the House
Committee on Un-American Activities and his mothers death
in 1961, as well as worldwide events such as the Holocaust.
The playwright based every character on people he knew- his
father, his brother Kermit, his mother, Elia Kazan, and himself.
To many, the most memorable character is Maggie, obviously
based on Marilyn Monroe. Miller said that the play was not
about Marilyn, though critics and audiences alike had a hard
time believing him. Actress Barbara Loden was cast in the
role of Maggie, and she played the character wearing a blonde
wig, which only made the similarities more apparent. Oddly
enough, After the Fall was directed by Elia Kazan, who was not
bothered by the fact that there are many references to his own
meetings with HUAC. In fact, Kazan said that the two never
talked about their past while they were working on the play.
Miller said, I hope the truth of the play wont be destroyed
by the facts behind it. Unfortunately, critical reception was
cold. The New Republics critic Robert Brustein said that Miller
has created a shameless piece of tabloid gossip, an act of
exhibitionism that makes us all voyeurs.
copy of After the Fall ?????

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Miller and Politics

iller had always been politically active, but he became even

more so in the 1960s. One of the main issues of the time
that held Millers attention was Americas involvement in
Vietnam. He participated in rallies in New Haven, Connecticut, where
he was residing, as well as at his old stomping ground of the University
of Michigan. President Lyndon B. Johnson invited Miller to witness
the signing of the 1965 Arts and Humanities Act. The Act created the
National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, which promotes
the importance of arts and humanities in the United States. However,
because of the Presidents policies on Vietnam, Miller declined. He
wrote a letter to Johnson, saying when the guns boom, the art dies.
He went on to speak at the Poets for Peace event held in New York
City in 1967, which helped raise money for Vietnamese civilians affected
by the war. Miller was also a delegate for Connecticut at the ill-fated
1968 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago, which led to
violence when police brutally attacked Vietnam War protesters.
Another cause that Miller was also passionate about was freedom of
speech. Miller became the president of PEN International in 1965. PEN
International tries to protect the rights of writers all around the world.
At the time Miller joined the group, PEN international included 8,000
writers, all of whom were against political systems that blocked writers
from writing about their oppressive governments. During his term as
president, which ended in 1969, he was able to free the Spanish-French
writer, Fernando Arrabal, who was put in prison in 1967 for criticizing
the Franco government in one of his books. Miller later became the
vice president of the American division of PEN once his term ended.
Millers play The Archbishops Ceiling (1968) was influenced by his time
with PEN International.

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Millers speech he gave at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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Millers speech he gave at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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Miller and Critics

hile Millers 1968 play, The Price, was a modest

success, many American critics were not ecstatic over
his current work. Albert Bermel of The New Leader
wrote that Miller has not discernibly grown as a playwright
since Salesman. Subsequent plays such as The Creation of the
World and Other Business, The Archbishops Ceiling, The American
Clock, and Danger:Memory! were torn apart by American critics.
Many of these plays were also financially unsuccessful, failing to
have the staying power of his early work and closing after a few
performances. Miller never cared for critics, saying, I never had
a critic in my corner in this country. He was ever affected by
their rejection, saying Im becoming invisible in my homeland.
Luckily for Miller, not everyone had grown tired of his
work. While America was not thrilled with his recent plays, Great
Britains critical response to Millers newer plays was always
positive. Matt Wolf of the New York Times wrote that Almost
play for play, one can contrast a failed New York production
with its successful British counterpart. [A revised version of]
The American Clock closed quickly on Broadway in 1989, then
ran a season at the National [A British Theatre] six years later,
picking up an Oliver Award nomination for best play. Theaters
in Great Britain even produced plays that Miller had failed to
get to the stage, including The Golden Years, a play he wrote after
he graduated from college. With every new play that Miller
produced in England, more critical praise was given to him. The
New York Times said, No other dramatist on either side of the
Atlantic has the iconic stature Mr. Miller now enjoys in Britain.
A poster of The American Clock, performed
at the Harold Clurman Theatre in New York, 1980
MSS 484, Richard HoffmanArthur Miller Collection, Special Collections,
University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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Playing for Time

hile Miller began to fall out of favor with American

theater critics, his screenplay for the TV movie
Playing for Time (1980) was seen as his best work
in some time. The screenplay was based on The Musicians of
Auschwitz (1977) a memoir written by Fania Fnelon. Fnelon
was a Jewish cabaret and French Resistance supporter who
was put in a concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau by
the Nazis. With a group of other musicians, she was forced
to play music for other Jews as they were sent into the gas
chambers. Miller wanted Vanessa Redgrave to play the part
of Fnelon. However, his choice caused some controversy
because at the time, Redgrave was involved with the Palestine
Liberation Organization. Critics attacked the actress, as well
as the film crew for their casting choice, yet, Miller defended
Redgrave, saying, To fire her now for political reasons would
be blacklisting. Having been blacklisted myself in time past, I
have fought against the practice abroad as well as here, and I
cannot participate in it now. Miller and the film crew stood
their ground, and Redgrave was able to play the part. The
movie aired on September 30, 1980 on CBS and was critically
acclaimed. Miller won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for
a Miniseries, Movie, or a Dramatic Special. Redgrave also
won an Emmy for her performance. The playwright eventually
adapted his screenplay into a play, but it was only performed
once at the 1986 Edinburgh International Festival. Arthur
Miller biographer Martin Gottfried called the stage adaptation
of Playing for Time his most emotional play since Death of a
Salesman.
A page from Millers script for Playing for Time. 1980
MSS 484, Richard HoffmanArthur Miller Collection, Special Collections,
University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware

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Millers Later Life

rthur Miller said that Up to a certain point the human being

is completely unpredictable. Thats what keeps me going.
You live long enough, you dont rust. This attitude kept
Miller interested in writing well into the 1990s and 2000s. During
these decades, he wrote The Last Yankee (1991), The Ride Down Mt.
Morgan (1991), Broken Glass (1994), Mr. Peters Connections (1998),
Resurrection Blues (2002), and Finishing the Picture (2004). As before in
the 1970s and 1980s, American critics were unimpressed while the
British showered him with praise. Though his more recent work did
not receive good reviews, a renewed interest in Miller began to grow
in America in the mid-1990s. A well-received film adaptation of The
Crucible, produced by Robert, Arthurs son from his first marriage
and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, was released
in 1996. Miller would end up receiving an Oscar Nomination for
his screenplay. As a result, many of his forgotten works were now
being staged. New Yorks Signature Theater Company dedicated a
whole season to Miller that included productions of The Last Yankee
and The American Clock. Broadway revivals of The Price and The Ride
Down Mt. Morgan were produced in 2001 and were nominated for
Tony Awards. The Man Who had All The Luck was also revived in New
York in 2001, which was the first time it had been performed since
1944. A film adaptation of his book Focus was released to favorable
reviews. Arthur Miller died of congestive heart failure on February
10, 2005, at the age of 89. Miller had always said that he wanted to
be remembered as a playwright. That would be all of it.
Arthur Miller attending the
Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival in Wales, 1990
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
Photograph by Susan Greenhill.

Frame Size 16 x 20
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