Arthur Miller Biography

Fast Facts

• His play "Death of a Salesman" was the first to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize
• Wrote his first play while working as a reporter and night editor for the University of Michigan's student newspaper, and when it won the Avery Hopwood Award, he began to seriously consider a career as a playwright
• Quote: "Drama is akin to the other inventions of man in that it ought to help us to know more, and not merely to spend our feelings․"
• Depicted realistic characters who often suffered from anxiety, depression and guilt, and who struggled with society, their families and themselves
• Some of his most enduring works contain social commentary, "The Death of a Salesman" embodying a sense of disillusionment with the American Dream and "The Crucible" serving as a parable for the Joseph McCarthy era
• Played football for Abraham Lincoln High School in 1930
• Requested that the only theatre in the world to be named after him would be on the campus of the University of Michigan, his alma mater