who was "arthur miller not the playwright" lawyer

by Novella Abshire 6 min read

How did Arthur Miller begin his career as a playwright?

He took several courses with Professor Kenneth Rowe, a playwright. Inspired by Rowe's approach to constructing plays, after graduating in 1938, Miller moved back East to begin his career as a playwright. Miller wrote plays as well as radio dramas.

What is the other name of Arthur Miller?

Alternative Title: Arthur Asher Miller. Arthur Miller, in full Arthur Asher Miller, (born October 17, 1915, New York, New York, U.S.—died February 10, 2005, Roxbury, Connecticut), American playwright, who combined social awareness with a searching concern for his characters’ inner lives. He is best known for Death of a Salesman (1949).

Who was Arthur Miller's Son-in-law?

Arthur Miller's son-in-law, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, is said to have visited Daniel frequently, and to have persuaded Arthur Miller to meet with him. In 1952, Elia Kazan appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

What happened to Arthur Miller in his later years?

Miller's Later Years. In 1987, his autobiography was published. Much of his later plays dealt with personal experience. In particular, his final drama, Finishing the Picture mirrors the turbulent last days of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe. In 2005, Arthur Miller passed away at the age of 89.

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What is playwright Arthur Miller best known for?

American playwright Arthur Miller is known for combining social awareness with a searching concern for his characters’ inner lives. He is best know...

What was Arthur Miller’s early life like?

American playwright Arthur Miller was born and raised in New York City, where his father owned a successful manufacturing business. The Great Depre...

When did Arthur Miller die?

American playwright Arthur Miller died on February 10, 2005, in Roxbury, Connecticut. He was 89 years old. He died of heart failure.

Who is Arthur Miller?

Arthur Raphael Miller CBE (born 22 June 1934), is a leading scholar in the field of American civil procedure and a University Professor at New York University and Chairman of The NYU Sports & Society Program.

Where did Arthur Miller go to college?

His father, Murray Miller, was a lawyer who worked as a solo practitioner, and his mother, Mary, was a legal secretary. He attended college at the University of Rochester, graduating in 1955 with an A.B. with high honors.

How many prints did Arthur Miller give to the British Museum?

This honor recognizes Miller's service to the United Kingdom by his gift of more than 1,800 Japanese woodblock prints by nineteenth-century artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi to the American Friends of the British Museum; these were exhibited at the Royal Academy in the spring of 2009.

When did Professor Miller make videotapes?

In 1999 Professor Miller made videotapes lectures for Concord Law School, an online law school, privately owned by the Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan Educational Centers, and videotaped 11 lectures for a course on civil procedure.

How did Arthur Miller die?

American playwright Arthur Miller died on February 10, 2005, in Roxbury, Connecticut. He was 89 years old. He died of heart failure.

What was Arthur Miller’s early life like?

American playwright Arthur Miller was born and raised in New York City, where his father owned a successful manufacturing business . The Great Depression, however, brought financial ruin onto his father, demonstrating to the young Miller the insecurity of modern existence.

What was the impact of the Great Depression on the life of Miller?

Miller was shaped by the Great Depression, which brought financial ruin onto his father, a small manufacturer , and demonstrated to the young Miller the insecurity of modern existence . After graduation from high school he worked in a warehouse.

When was I Don't Need You Any More published?

I Don’t Need You Any More, a collection of his short stories, appeared in 1967 and a collection of theatre essays in 1977. His autobiography, Timebends, was published in 1987. In 2001 Miller received the Japan Art Association’s Praemium Imperiale prize for theatre/film. Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable in The Misfits.

Who wrote about the left out?

> Arthur Miller, in particular, both wrote movingly and even courageously about the lives of the “left-out” Americans, demanding attention for the outcasts of a relentlessly commercial society. Viewing them from the 21st century, however, both seem more traditional and less profoundly innovative than their contemporaries…

Who wrote the essay Death of a Salesman?

American literature: Miller, Williams, and Albee. Arthur Miller wrote eloquent essays defending his modern, democratic concept of tragedy; despite its abstract, allegorical quality and portentous language, Death of a Salesman (1949) came close to vindicating his views.

How old was Arthur Miller when he was a playwright?

He was 89 years old. In March 2018, HBO aired the documentary Arthur Miller: Writer. Directed and narrated by his daughter Rebecca, the piece chronicled the life of the great American playwright, from the creation of his iconic plays, to his marriage to Monroe to his relationships with family members.

Who Was Arthur Miller?

Playwright Arthur Miller attended the University of Michigan before moving back East to write dramas for the stage. He earned widespread praise for Death of a Salesman, which opened on Broadway in 1949 and won the Pulitzer Prize along with multiple Tonys. He received more acclaim for his award-winning follow-up, The Crucible, which reflected his unwavering refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller's public life was painted in part by his rocky marriage to Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. The playwright died in 2005 at the age of 89, leaving a body of work that continues to be re-staged internationally and adapted for the screen.

What award did Salesman win for his play "Suddenly there is nothing"?

Salesman won Miller the highest accolades in the theater world: the Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Tony for Best Play. (The work, in fact, swept all of the six Tony categories in which it was nominated, including for Best Direction and Best Author.)

Why was Miller cited in contempt of court?

His 1953 play, the Tony Award-winning The Crucible, a dramatization of the Salem witch trials of 1692 and an allegory about McCarthyism, was believed to be one of the reasons why Miller came under the committee's scrutiny. Miller refused to comply with the committee's demands to "out" people who had been active in certain political activities and was thus cited in contempt of Congress.

What was the name of the play that Miller wrote for the student paper?

While in college, he wrote for the student paper and completed his first play, No Villain, for which he won the school's Avery Hopwood Award.

What are some of the plays that Miller wrote?

Miller's other plays include A View From the Bridge (1955), Incident at Vichy (1964) , The Price (1968) , The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972), The American Clock (1980) and Broken Glass (1994).

What was the name of the movie that Miller starred in?

He received more acclaim for his award-winning follow-up, The Crucible, which reflected his unwavering refusal to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Miller's public life was painted in part by his rocky marriage to Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe.

Who is Arthur Miller?

Wade Bradford. Updated July 19, 2019. Arthur Miller (October 17, 1915–February 10, 2005) is considered one of the greatest playwrights of the 20th century , having created some of America's most memorable plays over the course of seven decades. He is the author of " Death of a Salesman ," which won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize in drama, ...

What was the last play that Miller wrote?

Miller continued to write into his 80s. His later plays didn't attract the same attention or acclaim as his earlier work, though film adaptations of "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman" kept his fame alive. Much in his later plays dealt with personal experience. His final drama, "Finishing the Picture ," recalls the turbulent last days of his marriage to Monroe.

What was the Crucible about?

He was charged with contempt of Congress, a conviction that was later overturned. In response to the hysteria of the time, Miller wrote one of his best plays, "The Crucible.". It is set during another time of social and political paranoia, the Salem Witch Trials, and is an insightful criticism of the phenomenon.

How many awards did Arthur Miller win?

In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Miller won two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Tony Awards for his plays, and a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

How long did it take for Miller to write his script?

What's more, he had written his script in just five days. He took several courses with Professor Kenneth Rowe, a playwright. Inspired by Rowe's approach to constructing plays, after graduating in 1938, Miller moved back East to begin his career as a playwright.

Why did Arthur Miller start the Arthur Miller Foundation?

He established the Arthur Miller Foundation to help young artists. After his death, his daughter Rebecca Miller focused his mandate on expanding the arts education program in New York City public schools.

What is the bleak view of Miller?

Miller's sometimes bleak view of America was shaped by his and his family's experiences during the Great Depression. Many of his plays deal with the ways capitalism affects the lives of everyday Americans.

Who was Arthur Miller?

Born Oct. 17, 1915, in Manhattan, Arthur Asher Miller was the second son of an illiterate but very successful clothing manufacturer, Isidore Miller, an Eastern European Jewish immigrant, and his wife, Augusta (called Gussie), the New York-born daughter of German Jewish immigrants.

How many plays did Arthur Miller write?

In a career that spanned more than half a century, Arthur Miller wrote 25 plays -- many almost as highly regarded as "Salesman" -- as well as screenplays, essays, stories, novels and an autobiography, "Timebends.".

What was the play after the fall about?

Both marriages were reflected in "After the Fall," Miller's most nakedly autobiographical drama. The play also chronicles his stand against McCarthyism and his split with Kazan, who had staged Miller's initial successes "All My Sons" and "Salesman" -- and would also direct the controversial premiere of "Fall" in '64.

What plays did Miller play?

Few of his later plays met with critical or popular favor. After his success with "Sons" and "Salesman," Miller was attacked by conservative writers for his politics in the '50s and abandoned by most of the critical establishment after "Fall.".

How much did Miller win in the playwriting contest?

Financial need influenced his turn toward theater. Miller entered a playwriting contest administered by the university, winning a $250 prize that enabled him to attend for a second year. He won the Avery Hopwood Award again the next year as well as a $1,200 award from New York's Theater Guild.

What was the impact of the stock market crash on Arthur Miller?

The stock market crash and its aftermath had a major impact on Miller's life and work , not only in fixing his attention on social and economic justice and the hollow promise of the American dream as major themes. His much-admired older brother, Kermit, who had shown more promise as an athlete and a student, quit college to help their father try to save the family business. Arthur, through hard work at a variety of jobs and creative writing on his application letter, managed to go to the University of Michigan.

Was Arthur Miller an autobiographical playwright?

Though Miller never considered himself an autobiographical playwright, the major themes of his plays clearly derive from his life. The Depression, which he compared to the Civil War as a turning point in American history, haunts his work from "Salesman" on through his epic "The American Clock" in 1980.

Where was Professor Miller born?

He was born in Oregon and received law degrees from Stanford and Yale universities. Professor Miller was the author, co-author or editor of more than a dozen books and scores of articles in periodicals of jurisprudence.

How many brothers does Professor Miller have?

Besides his wife, Professor Miller is survived by three brothers, Harold, Lloyd and Wayne Miller, all of California.

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Overview

Miller in pop culture

Miller was one of the real figures on whom Scott Turow based the pseudonymous Harvard Law "Professor Rudolph Perini" in Turow's bestselling memoir of his first year in law school, One L. Although Turow has never acknowledged or denied the connection, Miller has long thought himself the real Perini, and conventional wisdom in the legal community has largely concurred.
Several years ago, the NYU Law Revue created a spoof of Miller in a South Park style, entitled "Wh…

Early life and education

Miller was born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Murray Miller, was a lawyer who worked as a solo practitioner, and his mother, Mary, was a legal secretary. He attended college at the University of Rochester, graduating in 1955 with an A.B. with high honors. He then attended the Harvard Law School, where he served as a notes editor for the Harvard Law Review and graduated in 1958 with an LL.B. magna cum laude.

Career

After law school, Miller spent three years in private practice as an associate with the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. In 1961, he joined the Columbia Law School as director of its Project on International Procedure.
Miller was the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (1971–2007), after being on the faculties of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. He is coauthor with Ch…

External links

• NYU Faculty Biography
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Early Career & 'Death of A Salesman'

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Miller's career got off to a rocky start. His 1944 Broadway debut, The Man Who Had All the Luck, garnered a fate that was the antithesis of its title, closing after just four performances with a stack of woeful reviews. Focus, Miller's novel about anti-Semitism, was published a year later. His next play, All My Sons,was a hit in 1947…
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Marriage to Marilyn Monroe

  • In 1956, Miller divorced his first wife, Mary Slattery, his former college sweetheart with whom he had two children, Jane Ellen and Robert. Less than a month later, Miller married actress and Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, whom he'd first met in 1951 at a Hollywood party. At the time, Monroe was dating Kazan, who had directed Miller's All My Sons and Death of a Salesman…
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'The Crucible' & McCarthyism

  • Later in 1956, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) refused to renew Miller's passport, and called him to appear before the committee. His 1953 play, the Tony Award-winning The Crucible, a dramatization of the Salem witch trials of 1692 and an allegory about McCarthyism, was believed to be one of the reasons why Miller came under the committe…
See more on biography.com

Divorce and Marilyn's Death

  • Miller and Monroe were married for five years, during which time the tragic sex symbol struggled with personal troubles and drug addiction. Miller barely wrote during their marriage, except for penning the screenplay of The Misfits as a gift for Monroe. The 1961 film, directed by John Huston, starred Monroe, Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift. Around the same time as The Misfit…
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Early Life

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Arthur Miller was born on October 17, 1915, in Harlem, New York to a family with Polish and Jewish roots. His father Isidore, who came to the U.S. from Austria-Hungary, ran a small coat-manufacturing business. Miller was closer to his mother Augusta Barnett Miller, a native New Yorker who was a teacher and an avid reade…
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College

  • After working at several jobs to save money for college, in 1934 Miller left the East Coast to attend the University of Michigan, where he was accepted into the school of journalism. He wrote for the student paper and completed his first play, "No Villain," for which he won a university award. It was an impressive beginning for a young playwright who had never studied plays or playwriting. Wha…
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Broadway

  • Miller wrote plays as well as radio dramas. During World War II, his writing career gradually became more successful. (He couldn't serve in the military because of a football injury.) In 1940 he finished "The Man Who Had All the Luck," which reached Broadway in 1944 but closed after only four performances and a pile of unfavorable reviews. His next play to reach Broadway cam…
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Communist Hysteria

  • Since Miller was in the spotlight, he was a prime target for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), led by Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy. In an age of anti-communism fervor, Miller’s liberal political beliefs seemed threatening to some American politicians, which is unusual in retrospect, considering that the Soviet Union banned his plays. Miller was summoned before t…
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Marilyn Monroe

  • By the 1950s, Miller was the most recognized playwright in the world, but his renown wasn’t only because of his theatrical genius. In 1956, Miller divorced Mary Slattery, his college sweetheart with whom he had had two children, Jane Ellen and Robert. Less than a month later he married actress and Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, whom he'd met in 1951 at a Hollywood part…
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Later Years and Death

  • Miller continued to write into his 80s. His later plays didn't attract the same attention or acclaim as his earlier work, though film adaptations of "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman" kept his fame alive. Much in his later plays dealt with personal experience. His final drama, "Finishing the Picture,"recalls the turbulent last days of his marriage to Monroe. In 2002, Miller's third wife Mor…
See more on thoughtco.com

Legacy

  • Miller's sometimes bleak view of America was shaped by his and his family's experiences during the Great Depression. Many of his plays deal with the ways capitalism affects the lives of everyday Americans. He thought of theater as a way to speak to those Americans: "The mission of the theater, after all, is to change, to raise the consciousness of people to their human possibiliti…
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Sources

  1. "Arthur Miller Biography." Notablebiographies.com.
  2. "Arthur Miller: American Playwright." Encyclopedia Britannica.
  3. "Arthur Miller Biography." Biography.com.
  4. Arthur Miller Foundation.
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