Arthur Miller – the theater legend who crusaded for social and moral responsibility in such classic plays as “Death of a Salesman,” “The Crucible” and “A View From the Bridge,” – died at his farm in Roxbury, Conn.
The cause was congestive heart failure.
Miller, 89, also had been suffering from cancer and pneumonia.
He died Thursday night surrounded by friends and family, including his girlfriend, Agnes Barley, 55 years his junior.
“I feel as though one of the planets has just shifted,” said Brian Dennehy, who won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the acclaimed 1999 revival of “Death of a Salesman.” “It seems shocking that he is gone.”
Along with Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, Miller was a major force on Broadway in the 20th century, transforming a theater that had been dominated by light entertainment into one that offered serious, dramatic, intense works of art.
“Death of a Salesman,” which Miller wrote in just six weeks, catapulted the playwright, then 33, to fame when it opened on Broadway in 1949.
In its harrowing depiction of a traveling salesman brought down by frustration and failure, it examined the dark side of the American dream, and established Miller, whose family was ruined by the Great Depression, as a fierce critic of American capitalism.
“The Crucible,” which debuted in 1953, established Miller as the most influential political playwright of the 20th century.
Its examination of the Salem witch trials was a thinly veiled attack on the House Un-American Activities Committee’s pursuit of communists. Three years later, Miller himself was hauled before HUAC but refused to name names.
Already internationally famous, Miller attracted even more media attention when he wed Marilyn Monroe in 1956. The marriage lasted only a few years, however – destroyed, in part, by the relentless media scrutiny and Monroe’s emotional instability.
“Arthur wrote a valentine for her, but she didn’t feel she was worthy,” said the actor Eli Wallach, a friend of both Miller and Monroe.
In 1962, Miller married the photographer Inge Morath, who died in 2002.
Although Miller continued to write plays up until last year, none achieved the critical acclaim – or had the social impact – of “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible.” His later plays generally fared much better in London.
“That was a source of irritation for him,” said Robert Falls, who directed the 1999 revival of “Death of a Salesman” as well as Miller’s final play, “Finishing the Picture,” which was about Monroe. “He was writing without any sort of critical support in this country.”
But he continued to work. Even in the hospital last week, he kept abreast of plans to open “Death of a Salesman” in London this spring.
Arthur Miller
* Born: 1915 in New York City
* Education: University of Michigan
* Major plays: “All My Sons,” “Death of a Salesman,” “The Crucible,” “A View From the Bridge”
* Book: “Timebends,” an acclaimed autobiography
* Hobbies: Carpentry
* Awards: Pulitzer Prize for “Death of a Salesman” and three Tonys – “All My Sons,” “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible”
* Wives: Mary Slattery, Marilyn Monroe, Inge Morath