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Arthur Miller

アーサー・ミラー

Arthur Miller

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1915-10-17 （Harlem, New York City, U.S.）
Died
2005-02-10 （Roxbury, Connecticut, U.S.） age 89
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
New York City (Harlem, Brooklyn) → Roxbury, Connecticut → Ann Arbor (while attending University of Michigan)

Career

Occupations
playwright, screenwriter, essayist, professor
Active Years
1936-2004
Affiliations
University of Michigan (alumnus; established awards/theatre), PEN International (International President 1965–1969), American Theater Hall of Fame (member)
Memberships
PEN International (International President 1965–1969)
Influenced By
Kenneth Thorpe Rowe, Henrik Ibsen
Influenced
Contemporary American playwrights (e.g. David Mamet), Theatre education and international theatrical practice

Education

University of Michigan
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts / Department of English
Degree: BA
Period: 1932–1938
Year of Graduation: 1938
Country: United States
While at university won the Avery Hopwood Award for early plays such as No Villain and Honors at Dawn

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1949
Work: Death of a Salesman
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
Tony Award (Best Author)
1948
Work: All My Sons
Organization: Tony Awards
Result: 受賞
Kennedy Center Honors
1984
Organization: Kennedy Center
Result: 受賞
Praemium Imperiale
2001
Organization: The Japan Art Association
Result: 受賞
Jerusalem Prize
2003
Organization: Jerusalem Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
National Medal of Arts
1993
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
1999
Organization: Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Committee
Result: 受賞
Prince (Principe) of Asturias Prize for Literature
2002
Organization: Prince of Asturias Foundation
Result: 受賞
Jefferson Lecture (NEH)
2001
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities
Result: 選出・講演
St. Louis Literary Award
1980
Organization: Saint Louis University Library Associates
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

All My Sons

1947 social family drama

A postwar drama that examines corporate ethics and familial responsibility; through a family's collapse it interrogates the consequences of wartime profiteering.

responsibilityguilt and atonementfamily
Adaptations
  • [Film] All My Sons (film) / レイモンド・ローウェイ (1948)
Translations
  • All My Sons (Japanese translation)

Death of a Salesman

1949 domestic tragedy

Through the decline of aging salesman Willy Loman, the play critiques the American Dream and personal delusion; considered a 20th-century American classic.

critique of the American Dreamfamily breakdownself-deception
Adaptations
  • [Television film] Death of a Salesman (1985 film) / ボブ・ローゼン (1985)
Translations
  • Death of a Salesman (Japanese translation)

The Crucible

1953 historical drama / political allegory

Dramatizes the 1692 Salem witch trials as an allegory criticizing the McCarthy-era persecutions and public hysteria.

mass hysteriapower and justiceconscience
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Crucible (1996 film) / ニコラス・ハイトナー (1996)
  • [Opera] The Crucible (opera by Robert Ward) (1961)
Translations
  • The Crucible (Japanese translation)

A View from the Bridge

1955 prose drama / social drama

Set in an immigrant working-class community, the play examines jealousy and betrayal that lead to tragedy; originally a one-act verse piece later revised into a two-act prose drama.

jealousyfamily and honorimmigration and labor
Adaptations
  • [Film (French-Italian co-production)] Vu du pont (1962 film) (1962)
Translations
  • A View from the Bridge (Japanese translation)

Bibliography

  • No Villain (1936)
  • All My Sons (1947)
  • Death of a Salesman (1949)
  • The Crucible (1953)
  • A View from the Bridge (1955)
  • Focus (novel, 1945)
  • Timebends: A Life (autobiography, 1987)
  • Salesman in Beijing (1984)

Adaptations

  • Death of a Salesman (1985 television film)
  • The Crucible (1996 film)
  • The Misfits (screenplay, 1961 film)

Translations of Works

  • Death of a Salesman (Japanese translation)
  • The Crucible (Japanese translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
social realismdialogue-rich psychological characterizationemphasis on dramatic structure
Recurring Motifs
responsibility and consciencereexamination of the American Dreamfamily breakdown and fraught reconciliation

Health

  • Bladder cancer
    2004–2005
    Suffered illness in later life, entered hospice care and died in 2005
  • Heart failure
    2005
    Reported as a contributing cause of death

Legacy

Considered one of the foremost 20th-century playwrights; his plays remain widely produced worldwide and his name is commemorated through university theatres, a foundation, and archival collections.

Museums

  • Arthur Miller Theatre (University of Michigan) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan Opened in 2007

Academic Societies

  • Arthur Miller Society

Archives

  • Arthur Miller Papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
  • Arthur Miller materials at Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library

In Popular Culture

  • Minor planet 3769 Arthurmiller named in his honor
  • Portrayed in contemporary media (e.g., the film Blonde (2022)), frequently referenced in Marilyn Monroe-related narratives

Quotes

  • “I could not use the name of another person and bring trouble on him.”
    Source: Testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (1957)

Trivia

  • Married to Marilyn Monroe (1956–1961)
  • Major papers and drafts are held at the Harry Ransom Center
  • Has a minor planet named after him (3769 Arthurmiller)